4. Question No. 4—COVID-19 ResponseDr ELIZABETH KEREKERE (Green) to the Minister for COVID-19 ResponseQuestion No. 4—COVID-19 Response4. Dr ELIZABETH KEREKERE (Green) to the Minister for COVID-19 Response: Does he agree it is essential to prioritise equity in the next stage of responding to COVID-19; if so how does he plan to achieve an equitable response?Hon CHRIS HIPKINS (Minister for COVID-19 Response): Kia ora Mr Speaker. Absolutely. The Government's always placed equity at the forefront of our COVID-19 response and the next stage is no different. Equity is a key consideration in our shift to the protection framework. It's intended to give as much certainty and stability as possible for people and for businesses including by removing the need for widespread alert level 3 and 4 lockdowns which we acknowledge create additional equity issues. We recognise that vulnerable communities are some of the hardest hit by COVID-19 and that we all have a part to play in responding—the Government including health and social services; local communities; iwi; hapū; whānau; businesses; and individuals. The framework provides us with tools to better protect vulnerable regions and communities and to put in place proportionate measures to do that.Dr Elizabeth Kerekere: Kia ora. Is he concerned that Māori and Pasifika make up a combined 70 percent of current hospitalised COVID-19 cases and if so how does he plan to ensure these communities are protected from further spread of COVID-19?Hon CHRIS HIPKINS: Yes I am concerned by that and I am concerned that COVID19 has found its way into a hard-to-reach part of our community and it is a part of the community that has been marginalised from many of the arms of Government that we rely on in our contact tracing processes in order to try and ring-fence and remove the risk. And I know that those contact tracing teams have been working incredibly hard to try and reach in to those communities and provide their support in different ways in order to build trust within those communities so that they can do exactly that. So that has to continue to be the focus. I am concerned as well that the lower rate of vaccination amongst Māori has the potential to manifest itself in a higher rate of hospitalisation as we see more cases of COVID-19 in the community. And I think that one of the strongest things we can all do as members of Parliament is to get out there and encourage people to take up the opportunity to be vaccinated. One of the things I am very concerned about—and I've spoken openly about this today—is that our Māori communities have been the target of a very active and organised misinformation campaign some of which is being fuelled by white supremacists.Dr Elizabeth Kerekere: Kia ora. What additional resourcing will be provided to healthcare iwi and community services in regional and rural areas in light of travel to these areas from Auckland?Hon CHRIS HIPKINS: As the Prime Minister has just outlined we've put a significant additional amount of funding into getting our vaccination rates up amongst Māori and working with our hauora health providers to do that and similarly to prepare for care in the community as we see more cases of COVID-19 in the community and making sure we're working with our Māori health providers our Pasifika health providers to make sure that they're geared up and ready to do that. We'll continue to focus on that. I'd note that one of the things that the protection framework does is it gives us that ability to protect people at a more individual level than the alert level framework does.Dr Elizabeth Kerekere: Kia ora. What plans does he have to protect the health and wellbeing of confirmed COVID-19 cases isolating at home in regional and rural areas particularly those in large households?Hon CHRIS HIPKINS: I think it's important to note—and the Minister of Health has been doing a lot of work with health officials on the care in the community model—it's not going to be an absolutely one-size-fits-all model because different communities different whānau will have different needs. Some people will present with very mild symptoms and will be quite happy to go home isolate at home won't need a lot of support with that will get better and then will be out and about in the community again. Other people will have a higher level of support because they're showing more symptoms. Others will find isolating—particularly those in very large households—safely in a very large household can be more challenging. So there are going to need to be a variety of different models there. And working with our local health providers all of them to make sure that we're providing appropriate support depending on the nature of the case and the nature of support required that's going to be really important.Dr Elizabeth Kerekere: Will he commit to ensuring iwi and hapū are able to establish roading checkpoints to protect people living in popular holiday destinations with low vaccination rates and a high proportion of people under 12 such as in the Tai Rāwhiti?Hon CHRIS HIPKINS: I'd simply reiterate the message that the police are responsible for any roading checkpoints that exist around COVID-19. And I know that the police have worked in partnership with local iwi around how they have done that and I'd encourage them to continue to do that. That of course is an operational matter for them. But I know that they're very proud of the work that they've done with local iwi around that.Dr Elizabeth Kerekere: And finally how will vaccine passes be provided to people without internet access or photo ID including migrants refugees asylum seekers the elderly people with learning difficulties and other disabilities?Hon CHRIS HIPKINS: The most immediate option that's available right now is an 0800 number that they can call and they will talk through the process for them to access a vaccination certificate. We're also looking at some additional walk-up options including through primary care where people will be able to go and get hard-copy printouts from primary care and from pharmacies and so on. We're not quite there yet with getting that up and running but we're very close to that and I hope to have more information about that. But we know that again it's not going to be one-size-fits-all; we're going to need a variety of different options for people.