Vaccination station gives away $100 vouchers
In addition to potentially saving your life, there are additional benefits for getting vaccinated at a Covid vaccination site in Hamilton.
K’aute Pasifika Trust’s drive-through vaccination station in Richmond St are giving the occupants of each vehicle a $100 Pak’n Save voucher as part of an instantaneous ‘‘thank-you’’ to people for protecting themselves, their families and the community.
Social services team leader Anggie Tuifua, who is overseeing the initiative, said the scheme began as a way to encourage Pacific youth to get themselves vaccinated. A partnership with the Ministry of Social Development had boosted the available fund to $70,000 and the incentive had been opened up to everyone, regardless of ethnicity.
‘‘It worked really well up in Auckland, and that’s why we adopted the initiative down here.’’
Building up a sense of trust in the vaccine was the critical part of the initiative, she said.
‘‘We know it looks like bribery. We definitely don’t want to be seen to be taking advantage of people.’’
The vouchers were being distributed per vehicle, not per person being vaccinated.
‘‘We would run out [of vouchers] pretty fast if that was the case.’’
Since the current lockdown began, the K’aute Pasifika team administered about 500 vaccines, but had tripled that figure after the incentive scheme was introduced.
‘‘There’s definitely been an increase in vaccinations for Ma¯ ori and Pasifika families coming through. That’s what we wanted to achieve.
‘‘Every Pasifika and Ma¯ ori family that comes through we ask how they are doing, whether they need any kind of welfare support and whether they are interested in any of the other services we can offer. It’s actually been a very good way of connecting with families, face to face – even if our faces are all masked up.
Health team leader Terereawai KipaKearns said many who came through the vaccination station arrived in a state of high anxiety.
‘‘Everyone gets a warm Pacific greeting and we do our best to put them at ease.
‘‘The language barrier can be a real barrier to getting vaccinated, because they don’t know what’s in the vaccine. If they call Healthline the terminology we hear sounds very foreign to us.’’
As of yesterday, Pacific people had a nationwide double-dose vaccination rate of about 61 per cent, which was behind the general population figure of 68 per cent. Ma¯ ori had a double-dose rate of 46 per cent.
‘‘We want to do our bit to help everyone. It’s all about giving them a sense of comfort in these uncertain times.’’
Even after discussing getting the vaccine with the on-site nurses, some people still had cold feet, she said.
‘‘We always assure them that at the end of the day it’s their choice, so if they decide to drive away and come back later, then we are totally up for that as well.’’
The vaccination station is in operation from 9am to 1pm each weekday this week.