- Kei aku nui, kei aku rahi rarau mai ki Te Hui. Ko Mihingarangi tenei e mihi atu nei ki a koutou katoa. Welcome to The Hui, coming to you from lockdown in Tamaki Makaurau. E taro ake nei... As Aotearoa pursues elimination, we discuss the latest developments in our battle to keep out COVID. - What we're seeing for Maori is that we are 2.5 times more likely to need hospitalisation from COVID-19. - And a small instrument... - # My achy, breaky heart. - ...and a lot of aroha. - # I just don't think he'd understand. - It's one of those things that you pick up, and you don't wanna put it down once you start playing it. - We meet Tauranga Moana's Ukulele Nannies. - Now we have two males that have come on board, and they're quite happy to be part of the Ukulele Nannies. (CHUCKLES) www.able.co.nz Copyright Able 2021 - Tahuti mai. As Aotearoa faces more uncertainty in the face of Delta, vaccination rates for Maori paint a worrying picture. While almost 1.7 million New Zealanders have received their first dose of the Pfizer vaccine, just 145,000 are Maori, and only 88,000 Maori have received both doses. Inakuanei e korero au ki te tihi mangai no te manatu hauora. Uh, you joined us on The Hui last year during lockdown, where you acknowledged the poorer life and health expectancies, and you said the Ministry would treat Maori as a priority. Has that happened? - Uh, yes. I think there have been challenges from outside to do better, but certainly the way we prioritised those with underlying conditions, the way we prioritised, for instance, in the rollout in south Auckland, the things we're doing currently to support whole-of-community, whole-of-whanau vaccinations. - We spoke about, um, equality in a crisis, and you talked about a work programme which would look at targeting the testing of Maori and Pasifika. One would assume that would naturally then carry on to be targeted vaccination. Has that happened? - Yes, as part of our overall rollout. The challenge has been, in the months prior to this, we've had limited supplies of vaccine. So we started with our front-line workers, including our Maori front-line workers, and we've progressively moved down to other areas of priority. We've also recognised people with underlying conditions, which is a lot of our people as well. But I certainly expect now that we have more vaccine supply and now that we're able to bring much more` many more settings online in terms of vaccinations, that'll increase our opportunity to be getting out with Maori. - The Royal Australian College of Physicians that say that we know that Maori are more at risk of COVID, and they've put some numbers out that Maori at 44 and a Pasifika person at 40 would have similar rates of complication as a 60-year-old Pakeha person in New Zealand. So how do you counteract that situation? - I think, as I said, now that we've got more vaccine supply, and now that we're progressively moving down the age bands, we will be reaching and providing opportunities for a greater reach into our communities. The results we've had so far on the age cohort approach ` for instance, our over-55s being vaccinated at comparable rates to other groups ` and we expect as we push through, now that we're getting to younger age cohorts, that that will be the same response too. We've had strong support from iwi and Maori organisations. In fact, some of our biggest champions out there are iwi and Maori themselves. - And if you look at a snapshot of Tamaki, for an example, let's look at the vaccination rates of at least one dose there. You've got Pakeha at 40%. You've got the Asian population at 46% vaccinated, and Maori at 28%. That looks and feels like inequity to me. - Uh, yes. As I said, across the whole Maori population, I'm sure there's a differential. Part of that is that we've started with our kaumatua, with our pakeke first. But as I said, as we continue to reach out into our younger population, I expect those results to increase significantly. And as I said, at the same time, we now have more vaccine resource to be able to distribute and to create a greater range of choice and options for our people to get vaccinated. - The problem with that, e hoa, is that Delta's here now, and Maori are way behind the eight ball, behind everyone else. It hasn't worked. We haven't been able to keep our people safe. - Oh, I don't think that's` I don't think that's a determination we can make at this stage. If you look at how much` how significantly more vaccines we're undertaking now than we were undertaking even two or three weeks ago, that has ramped up significantly. Every day, we're adding primary care and other sites as vaccination centres. - Absolutely fantastic numbers of vaccination in the last few days and week, but, I mean, people might ask the question of ` why weren't we doing this a month ago? - Oh, I think there were several things coming together. I think the first of those was ramping up our vaccination workforce, including ` which was a huge opportunity for our Maori providers, and they've certainly taken that opportunity ` getting some of our non-regulated health workforce as vaccinators, not only for COVID to start with, but certainly, it's my expectation we would continue to grow that. So I think there's been that. There's been the vaccines themselves and been trying to` We've had to be very careful about our vaccine administration, particularly in the early months of our vaccine effort. But those things have changed now. We have much more vaccinators vaccinating around the country. We have a larger supply of vaccine coming in. We have a greater range of choice for people around the country. And as I said, it's my expectation that that will start having a result, not only for Maori, but across our community in general. - One of the issues in our Maori vaccination poll earlier this year was not that our people were anti-vaxxers; they just really needed to know more information, and they needed to have that from a safe source. Minister Henare at the time said that there would be campaigns to tackle the misinformation, including online. Can you name one project that has been rolled out specifically for Maori? - I'm not sure I can think of a project that we're rolling out that's targeted on misinformation, but we certainly have a number of funded projects with iwi and Maori organisations and communications organisations to get good messaging out. And I think our starting place is not misinformation; it's making sure that people understand where they can get trusted information. Actually, interestingly enough, while I acknowledge history for Maori has not been one where they are ordinarily... unsuspicious of government activity, I have to say to you that in regards to the COVID communication campaign, certainly communications from the COVID website and certainly from the Ministry of Health, there's been high demand from both iwi and Maori organisations that we send those communications directly to them. But we don't start with misinformation. We start with trusted sources and good information. As information comes along, we have social media and other platforms that are regularly monitored. - This was the issue when we spoke with Minister Henare earlier this year around misinformation is that lots of our people are down rabbit holes on Facebook and on YouTube. And he said that, you know, we needed to have campaigns that actually engaged with our whanau who are online, sourcing their information from that. So how do you do that? - Well, the initiatives we're funding are directly with iwi and Maori organisations to communicate directly with their members. So we're providing them with information that's being provided generally but tailored to their use. - Can you give us an example of what one looks like? Because any day on my Facebook page, I can find dozens and dozens of Maori who do not believe in COVID. - Well, the communication channels we're working on are on social media, so there are channels where the Ministry of Health, for instance, along with the whole of government, is responding to the chatter on social media. There are certainly Maori-specific campaigns, like Karawhiua, that are currently putting out good messaging out there. As I said, there are individual Maori organisations and iwi, so we are regularly engaged, for instance, with the Iwi Comms Network, which includes a variety of communication representatives across iwi, providing them with information. They are channelling some of their own responses into social media. But there's a lot to contend with. - How are you measuring it? Are you having any success? - It is quite difficult sometimes, because we may not be able to respond to every social media post. So what we try and do is look at where there are some key themes, particularly around information and put information out there. But it's a constant battle, to be honest with you, Mihi. It's not something that we're gonna resolve once. It's a large feature of, as I said, not only what's happening here but internationally, where you've got dedicated organisations and people who are dedicated to putting out messaging around the place, false messaging. - Have you got a message for whanau who may have whanau on their Facebook page or come across that? You know, how do you engage? What do you say? - We don't have any shortage of leaders and iwi and Maori who are prepared to stand up and support what we're doing in terms of the response for COVID or vaccination. And so maybe it's some of our family leaders who might be one of the few who might be able to get through to some of our whanau who aren't very trusting of messages received from elsewhere. - Tena koe. Kia haumaru to noho. - Oh, kia ora. Kia haumaru tatou katoa. Ma te atua... tana korowai aroha e whakawhiua na i ki runga a tatou. Noho ora mai. - Kia ora. After the break, we speak to Maori virologist Dr Natalie Netzler. VOICEOVER: Who says one wellness fits all, that you need activewear to be active? (BRIGHT POP SONG) Yeah, live like nobody's watching. Go on, take the plunge! Swap leg day for head day. Do pizza before Pilates. Surf a mountain. (SHRIEKS) Actually be the ball. Do wellness your way. The Delta variant, which has plunged Aotearoa into lockdown, is spreading rapidly worldwide. It's the most transmissible COVID variant, infecting at a far greater rate than the original COVID-19 virus. To understand its potential impact on Maori, our reporter D'Angelo Martin spoke to Maori virologist Dr Natalie Netzler. - So, the Delta strain of COVID, which we know is the most deadliest ` why is that? - So what we've seen from some of the recent research is that Delta does seem to cause more severe illness. But I think the really key fact about Delta that we need to keep in mind is that it is much more contagious. So with the original strain, we were seeing that COVID-19, if one person caught it, they could infect on average around two and a half people around them. But with Delta, we are seeing that one sick person with COVID-19 can infect on average around seven people around them. So what we know about Delta is that it is much, much more contagious. And with more cases, we get more deaths. - And within your rangahau, within your research about the virus, I mean, what were some of the key findings that may relate to whanau Maori? - There are a lot of factors that are already known out there in the public domain that put Maori at more risk. So one thing is that we are more likely to be exposed. We make up a large proportion of front-line health and border workers. We also tend to look after our kaumatua, so we often live in multi-generational housing, and this can help spread the virus more easily. And Maori, unfortunately, have a higher proportion of underlying health issues. We have a lot of diabetes, a lot of cardiovascular disease, and we know from this pandemic and previous ones that this makes us much more likely to have a very severe reaction to the virus. What we are seeing for Maori is that we are two and a half times more likely to need hospitalisation from COVID-19 and that we're at least 50% more likely to die. Recent studies have also shown that people in Oceania are more likely to suffer from severe reactions to COVID-19, and there have been some genetic links. So that means that perhaps our DNA might affect our immune response. So my mahi is looking at some of these adaptations in the DNA of Maori and Pacific peoples to try and give us some clues on why is it that we get more sick, and why is it that we are more likely to die from infectious diseases such as COVID-19. - Mm, kia ora. And can you just quickly explain why people who are fully vaccinated can still be at risk of getting COVID? - This is a really common concern, and I would just like to assure people that if you're fully vaccinated, you are much, much less likely to die of COVID-19. What we are seeing is that the vaccines were originally developed against the original COVID-19 virus. And so since then, it has adapted. It keeps adapting, and so it has adapted to spread faster. What we've also seen is that it has adapted so that the vaccine is slightly less effective. We're seeing that instead of 95% of people being protected by the Pfizer vaccine, now around 88% of people are protected. That is still very high. That is still a great level of protection against the virus. So the key message there is that you could still catch the virus if you're fully vaccinated, which is why it is important to wear a mask and stay in your bubble, but you are much less likely to get really sick and die. And so that's why it's important to still get vaccinated. - Following on to that question, I know a lot of people will be asking ` what is the point of being vaccinated if you can still get sick? What do you tell them? - Yeah, I tell them that it's a little bit like going in a car ride with a really bad driver. You could put your seatbelt on, which is like getting vaccinated, and you have a much, much less likely chance of getting hurt or dying. Or you could just forget about it and think, 'Maybe it's just something I can take a risk with,' and you're much more likely to die. The truth is that vaccines save lives. 99.5% of people globally that have died from COVID-19 were unvaccinated. And what we're seeing is that it protects against almost 100% of deaths, very close to 100%. Especially Pfizer has a very good safety and effectiveness record. So I would still strongly suggest that people get vaccinated to save lives. - Now, there's a lot of korero online about people wanting to know what's in the vaccine. Can you explain very simply what is in the vaccine and how it works? - Yeah, so, the first thing I would like to just reassure people is that there is no virus in the vaccine, so it's really important that people understand they are not being given a little bit of the virus. There is no virus in the vaccine. What it is is just the instructions or a little bit of genetic code called mRNA that gives the body the instructions on how to make what's called the spike protein. The spike protein is just a tiny bit of the outside of the virus which is how it normally attaches to our cells to get inside to make us sick. So we know if we block that spike protein, then we won't get COVID-19. And so what happens is when we are injected, we have the message. We make the spike protein, and we have an immune response. Our immune response makes something called antibodies, which are like heat-seeking missiles, to attack the spike protein and kill it. But our immune system has a memory, so the next time we see the real virus and the real spike protein, then we have antibodies, and we are protected. So in that way, the vaccine trains our immune system on how to get ready and prepare so that we can very quickly kill the virus before it makes us sick. - At this point, Maori vaccination rates are very low. Is that a concern to you? - It is of great concern to me. I think there are two parts to this answer. The first is that we are seeing that Maori vaccination rates are less than about 60% of European vaccination rates in Aotearoa, so really lagging behind. But what really worries me is that we are much more at risk. We have at least 50% more chance of dying from COVID-19 than other ethnic groups in Aotearoa, and we know that if we catch the virus, we are two and a half times more likely to need hospitalisation. So that tells me that we are much more at risk, and so we really should be all getting vaccinated to protect not just ourselves but also those vulnerable people in our community, those that maybe can't be vaccinated ourselves. So if we all get vaccinated, we have a much better chance of not passing the virus on to them to keep them safe too. - We've heard a lot about the risk to kaumatua, but Delta is killing rangatahi too. What are the risks for our tamariki, and how do we protect them? - Yeah, so, the original strain, it looked like it really was more of a risk to our kaumatua, and what we're seeing with Delta is it's a game changer. It's really changed all the rules, and we're seeing babies overseas are dying now of COVID-19. So it's really important that we all play our role in this lockdown, that we listen to the advice. We stay in our bubbles. We all try and get vaccinated. We wear a mask when we go out in public, and we try and maintain social distancing, because what we're seeing now is that COVID-19 can also infect our tamariki, and it could kill them. So we really need to work hard to protect all of the lives around us, not just our kaumatua. However, it is important to note that our kaumatua are still the most at risk. We have learnt recently that with every seven years of age, your risk of dying of COVID-19 doubles. So a 70-year-old person is around 32 times more likely to die than a 35-year-old. So this is why we're seeing that most of the deaths are in that older age group, and that's why it's really important that we all get vaccinated to protect not just ourselves but also our tamariki and our kaumatua to try and keep everyone safe and to save as many lives as possible. - Hei muri i nga whakatairanga ka tutaki atu ki nga Ukulele Nannies o Tauranga Moana. Auraki mai ano. Before lockdown, The Hui reporter Ruwani Perera travelled to Tauranga Moana to meet a very special group of musical nannies. Anei tana purongo. (ALL PLAY UKULELES) - RUWANI PERERA: A little instrument and a lot of aroha. - There's something special about it. - We'll go and play just to make people happy. That's what ukulele's all about. (ALL SING, PLAY) - The Ukulele Nannies are a musical ensemble delighting Tauranga Moana audiences, but behind their toe-tapping tunes is an important kaupapa. - It's amazing, uh, hauora kaupapa for anybody. - Being part of a group that loves you back, and that to me is really powerful. - (SIGHS HAPPILY) You know, I just think it gives them joy. - # Don't tell my heart, # my achy breaky heart. # I just don't think he'd understand. - Every Tuesday, Verna Ohia-Gate's whanau-based ukulele group can be heard making sweet music. - # He might blow up and kill this man. - They're all converts to the instrument and hooked on its four-string sound. - # You can tell your dog to bite my leg. - It was Verna's music-loving mother, 92-year-old Tirikawa Ohia, who encouraged her daughter to form the band before her passing in 2018. - Used to have great times with Mum. Mm. So she pretty much said to me, you know, 'Get this going, Verna.' 'OK, well, I better.' And then a lot of other aunties were saying, 'Come on, let's start.' So it pretty much started from there. Her whakaaro was to share what I knew. - (LAUGHTER, WHOOPING) - First time... - As well as popular hits, the group pay tribute to Verna's mum with her favourite waiata Maori. - MAN: # Maku... - ALL: # ...e mihi atu. - I remember Mum lying in her bed before she passed, and I got the uke out. So I started singing this song 'Maku'. And as I was singing, you could hear her go, '(HUMS) Mmm-mmm!' So she was singing, and I thought, 'Yeah, she's still there!' (LAUGHS) That's a special moment. - ALL: # Kia ora ra. - The ukulele group isn't the only gift Tirikawa passed down to Verna. The 70-year-old has recently been given the role of kaikaranga for her Tauranga marae, Te Whetu o Te Rangi. - CALLS: Haere ma na manuhiri ki tenei marae o Te Whetu o Te Rangi nei e! And it's very special, because it's a rakau that Mum gave me, so... I have to do it, hey? As the oldest girl of the family. Haere mai. Cos when people say, 'Oh, you sound like your mother,' I go, 'Oh my God!' I say, 'Well, it is in my DNA, I suppose.' (CHUCKLES) - That's a big compliment. - Yeah, it's a great compliment, of course, yeah. It is. So I know I'm doing OK. Mm. (ALL SING IN TE REO MAORI, UKULELES PLAY) - The marae is also where the ropu play regular gigs for kaumatua. - I just think it gives them joy, you know? It just gives them joy. They forget what illnesses are` And it's really funny. You see them up, doing a line dance or something. (ALL SING IN UNISON, UKULELES PLAY) And so I will only play about three songs at once, and then I stop, and they go, 'Oh.' I say, 'I don't want you falling down,...' (CHUCKLES) '...something happening to you, so sit down and have a rest. 'We'll do some slow songs, then we'll get back to line dancing again.' They go, 'Oh. OK.' (LAUGHS) I said, 'I don't want you guys collapsing.' (LAUGHS) 'I'll be there.' There. Down here. - Most of the ensemble are all related. At 85, Aunty Jana is the group's ruahine, while Verna's aunt Mere Clark is proof that it's never too late to pick up the uke. - # You are my sunshine... - How tricky was it for you to learn the ukulele at 70? - I knew most of the chords with a guitar, but I didn't know the chords on a ukulele. So through Verna, she taught us the chords. So that's how I started, and I'm thoroughly enjoying it. Thoroughly enjoying it. (GROUP SING IN TE REO MAORI, PLAY UKULELES) - The Ukulele Nannies are attracting a loyal following, playing gigs at special events around the motu. And audiences may have noticed a few koro getting in on the act. - Yes, our name is Ukulele Nannies, and it's been like that for a while, but now we have two males that have come on board, and they're quite happy to be part of the Ukulele Nannies. (LAUGHS) So we're happy with that! - Every nanny's gotta have a goat. (CHUCKLES) - Robert Manihera was introduced to the ropu after he tried to find a ukulele band for his wife's unveiling. He loved it so much he joined the Nannies, and, since retiring, he says his new passion gives him a sense of purpose. - Just being part of a ropu who give you love, who give you something to do. I get up every... Tuesday, and I look forward to the practices. - Last year, Conrad Hawira came on board, and in that time, the group's only male musos have developed a strong bond. Both have survived strokes and are amazed at the healing properties of playing the uke. - This group has taken me from having fingers like that,... and they now do that. - Hauora is at the heart of their music-making. - We decided that this group would be about well-being and encouraging them to recuperate, help them to recover from their... whatever their mamae is. And it's working ` I mean, even for myself. I had bad arthritis, and instead of going to the physiotherapist, I'd say, 'Play your ukulele.' - ALL: # Hey, good lookin'. # Whatcha got cookin'? # How's about cookin' something up with me? - The happiness it brings to these players is infectious and proving to be addictive. - It's an instrument of fun, and it brings joy, and that's why I love playing it. - It's just, yeah... It's the bomb, you know? It's one of those things that you pick up, and you don't wanna put it down, once you start playing it. - Verna is proud of what they've achieved together, keeping the music playing in memory of her beloved mum. What would your Mum think if she saw this? - (LAUGHS) She'd be so rapt! (GIGGLES) Oh, no, she'd be happy, happy as. - ALL: # I got some money, cos I just got paid. - Verna's been the glue. - She's our inspiration and got us all going and shared her knowledge on playing the ukulele` the ukulele to us. - She's knit us all together and weaved us beautifully. And out of that korowai comes these beautiful noises,... sounds, songs. We might be the ones that are paddling, but somebody's got to steer us in the right place, in the right direction. - It's not complicated. People think it's complicated. Have a go, I'd say. Have a go. It's a lovely instrument. (MUSIC FINISHES) - Yeah-uh! Whoo! - (LAUGHTER) Kua hikina Te Hui, e hoa ma. Noho ora mai ra i roto i o koutou mirumiru. Captions by Able. Captions were made with the support of NZ On Air. www.able.co.nz Copyright Able 2021 - ALL: He mea tautoko na Te Mangai Paho.