Māori health providers have reduced the vaccination gap to 10 percent behind the general population, but experts say this is no cause for celebration.
The sluggish start to the vaccine drive and staff fatigue on the frontline are now impacting the booster rollout for Māori. There are calls to reduce the gap between second and third doses of the COVID-19 vaccine now Omicron is in the community.
Māori health workers have been putting in overtime and working in overdrive throughout the vaccine rollout.
"So today we've extended services from 6am to 6:30pm for our working population out here and we've got four mobiles out on the street taking services out to the people," says John Tamihere, CEO of Te Whānau o Waipareira.
Since November, 105,000 Māori have been vaccinated, but the workload is taking its toll on vaccination staff.
"I think I can say on behalf of all of us, we are feeling tired but we're ready," says Dr Matire Harwood.
Māori COVID-19 data analyst Dr Rawiri Taonui says Māori are still playing catch-up and wants to see the wait times between doses shortened.
"I've noticed in some DHBs since Christmas, an increase in Māori vaccinations has really slowed in some places and the numbers are so low I'm beginning to think it's got more to do with tiredness than resistance," Dr Taonui says.
"Those people won't become eligible for a booster shot until March 1 and that's way too late, Omicron is going to have a six-week head start on them."
Reducing the interval between the second vaccine and booster is being used in some states of Australia and Britain. Now Māori health experts are calling for the Government to do the same thing for Māori to get them better protected as soon as possible.
"During Delta, Māori were 50 percent or 13 of 26 of deaths, and if we get a number of deaths with Omicron, there'll be a high likelihood they're going to be Māori," Dr Taonui says.
Meanwhile, immunisations for tamariki are slow off the mark - Māori 5 to 11-year-old rates are around 50 percent behind the national average.
Tamihere isn't ruling out taking the Ministry of Health back to the High Court a second time to release vaccination data for children too.
"We're running into the same resistance from Mr Bloomfield and co again over our children's data," he says.
"It's just unfair what they're doing. It's bizarre. If we can get the parents' data, you'd think we could get the children's."
The Ministry of Health says it will consult with iwi leaders and Māori service providers before releasing what it considers sensitive information about children.
Meanwhile, the ministry says it will stick to a four-month gap between second vaccine shots and boosters but will listen to advice from health experts.
