Manurewa community respond to call to get Samoans in Auckland vaccinated
via the Cause Collective
Cover image of Manu Sina assistant coach Cynthia Ta'ala at the Rally Your Village event at the Vodafone Events Centre, via South Seas Healthcare
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A community group of passionate Manurewa residents has responded to the rallying call to increase the vaccination rate for Samoans in Tāmaki Makaurau, Auckland.
The Samoa I Manurewa Tutū Fa’atasi (Samoans in Manurewa Stand Together) was formed less than ten days ago but is taking a lead to encourage and mobilise Samoans living in the Manurewa area to make the decision to get vaccinated.
Made up of local church leaders, community representatives and young people, Samoa I Manurewa Tutū Fa’atasi will be hosting a two-day vaccination drive through event in Manurewa from tomorrow, Friday 8 October - Saturday 9 October, 9am - 4pm.
Bookings won’t be required for the event held in the Northcrest carpark, 1-13 Maich Road, which has been made available through the Manurewa Business Association. Pasefika Family Health Group, who have a medical centre on Weymouth Road, will carry out the vaccinations onsite.
Pastor Lui Ponifasio, a senior pastor of local church Life Church on Maich Road in Manurewa, is one of the key conveners of Samoa I Manurewa Tutū Fa’atasi.
“We’re all passionate Samoans who call Manurewa home. We’ve answered the call to help increase the vaccination rate for Samoans in our area, because we know our community and want to play our part to ensure that Manurewa residents are protected as possible from Covid-19. That means encouraging local people to get vaccinated to protect them, their families, loved ones and the wider community,” he says.
“Our team has worked tirelessly in a short time to engage our community and family networks in Manurewa to get vaccinated at this event which is targeted at Samoans but is open to all people. We encourage everyone in Manurewa that may need their first or second vaccination dose to attend this local event, so we can enjoy our local schools, libraries, recreation centres and parks and restaurants.”
“The event will include music from a DJ, Samoan food sourced from local businesses as well as prizes and giveaways for those who get a vaccination. Our team will also be on-site in fancy dress as we want to make it a safe festive atmosphere that people will remember not just for their vaccination but for the positive Manurewa experience,” he says.
Samoa I Manurewa Tutū Fa’atasi in their short-time have already launched a Facebook and Instagram account and have delivered flyers to numerous businesses in the Manurewa area, operating under Alert Level 3. The team also operates a phone bank to reach out to Manurewa locals to get vaccinated at this event. Impressively, an 0800 number (0800 1150 05) has been activated to enable callers to talk to Samoan/English speakers regarding this week’s event.
Manurewa-Papakura Auckland Councillor Angela Dalton says she values the opportunity to support the Samoan community.
“We want to support our Samoan community. The response when Manurewa was first identified as a suburb of interest was magnificent, with so many turning up to be tested or to have vaccinations,” Dalton says.
“We are stronger together at this critical point in completing our vaccination roll out in Tāmaki Makaurau.”
Samoans make up the largest population of Pacific peoples in Auckland (120,000), with approximately 80,000 eligible for a Covid-19 vaccination. Approximately 37% of Samoans in Auckland are fully vaccinated, and the recent success of community-led vaccination drive through events has demonstrated that local people are best to engage and mobilise their own communities such as the Rally Your Village event at the Vodafone Events Centre and Gotcha Shot Toks event in Māngere in recent weeks.
