Pasifika in New Zealand face the highest risk of hospitalisation due to Covid-19.
They are three times more likely to be hospitalised than other ethnicities.
A study of covid data up to September last year highlights the inequity of hospitalisation rates by race in a New Zealand Medical Journal article.
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It had been previously shown that Maori and Pasifika are more likely to be infected with Covid-19.
Now author and Covid modeller Michael Plank said structural inequities and systemic racism in health would further debilitate those communities in another outbreak.
"One of the things that we found for example, was that Pacific people at the age of 55 have the same risk of needing to go to hospital for Covid-19, as Pakeha of age 80."
Plank said the study shows older Maori and Pasifika should be prioritised in the vaccination rollout.