An iwi health provider is urging people in the Eastern Bay of Plenty to take advantage of mobile vaccine clinics available from Sunday.
File photo. Photo: RNZ / Tom Kitchin
Te Puna Ora o Mataatua chief executive Chris Tooley said the Mataatua area is behind where he wants it to be on vaccination rates.
"To help with that we are removing barriers for those that need extra support, through location bookings and transport assistance."
Tooley said 4,000 people have visited its centre in the Whakatāne suburb of Kopeopeo, and he hopes the mobile clinics will remove barriers and boost those numbers.
The team is available for large group bookings at marae, community organisations or social groups, Tooley said, for both Māori and non-Māori.
Med Central practice manager Kahlise Hata encouraged whānau to get vaccinated.
"More Māori have died from Covid-19 in New Zealand than any other ethnic group and we know from historical infectious diseases, like the flu, Māori are disproportionately affected.
"To protect our whānau, our hapū, our iwi, we urge all Māori to book in a vaccination for themselves and their whānau."