A health expert who will front a Waikato Mongrel Mob vaccination event next week says there is a duty of care to help inform all New Zealanders.
Te Rōpū Whakakaupapa Urutā (the National Maori Pandemic Group) co-leader Dr Rawiri Jansen and University of Auckland Associate Professor Collin Tukuitonga will front the session next week.
Dr Jansen told Morning Report it won't be his first time speaking to groups about the importance of vaccination.
"I've been at the ports at six in the morning. I've been to MIQ, I've worked with border security staff, I've worked with airport staff, I've been to Kaikohe, I've been to Wharekahika.
"If a community calls out and says, 'we'd like some help, we'd like an opportunity to have some questions or talk about Covid and the vaccine', my answer is yes.
"I think it's really important that we reach out and support communities who are interested in having the conversation."
Collin Tukuitonga and Rawiri Jansen Photo: PMA/LDR/Stephen Forbes
He pushed back at any suggestion the meeting could be a PR exercise.
"You don't need to worry about it being a PR exercise, what you need to worry about is that we are actually reaching out and working with communities so we get the best vaccination program this country needs."
Dr Jansen said gangs are less likely to be welcoming of mainstream public health messaging.
"They're not about to go 'yeah, let's have mainstream public health messaging coming to us and we're going to understand it', well you know, it's a group that will be distant from the mainstream messages.
"But if we really are a team of 5 million, then we do have to reach into all parts of our community, do a really good job so that we can lift the vaccination rates and get as much protection as possible."
Tukuitonga told Morning Report the meeting was not just about mob members.
"There are whānau involved there, you know, mums and young people, and we have a duty to inform them as best we can."
The government has said a large number of gang members have been caught up in the outbreak.
Tukuitonga said there had been some "hype and hysteria" in the messaging around gang members involved in the outbreak, and if rules have been broken gangs weren't the only ones flouting them.
"There are indiscretions everywhere and I don't know really know what's happening with the gang community.
"All I know is that I think we have a duty to share information with them, I'm not sure that pointing fingers at different groups is very helpful.
"We're in this together, and we need to do the best for everyone, and that's pretty much why I've decided to front up and see if I can answer their questions."
