Māori are taking up the booster 10 percent faster than Pākehā, and the gap between Māori and the general population is closing every day.
Craig Wilson, the Papakura Marae vaccination site lead, says adults coming in for boosters can get in without having to sit in mile-long queues.
Papakura Marae is one of more than 200 Māori Health provider locations across the country, and has vaccinated over 20,000 people. Boosters are front of mind.
Data analyst Dr Rawiri Taonui says Māori are still 19 percent behind the national rate for boosters, but Māori booster uptake is faster compared to Pākehā.
"The Māori vaccinated population is highly motivated to protect our whakapapa and whānau," says Dr Taonui.
Being a young population, Māori fell behind at the start of the vaccine drive when the Government targeted the elderly. But when the gap between second and booster shots was cut, Māori were able to catch up.
Nationally, 60 percent of Māori are boosted, but in Counties Manukau, where there are the highest rates of COVID-19 infection in the country, Māori booster uptake is at its lowest at just 54 percent.
"We want to see our Māori whanau get that high level of protection - not go to hospital, not get very sick - so that is why that booster dose is so vitally important," says clinical immunologist Dr Anthony Jordan.
While Aotearoa grapples with Omicron, new studies overseas have found evidence that after the booster, most people won't need another vaccine shot for a while.
Dr Jordan isn't surprised.
"What we see is that as soon as you get that booster, two weeks after, that protection goes back up to 80 percent - so it's not back to those 90 [percent] levels with Delta, but 80 percent is a vast improvement on 40 [percent]."
As thousands of Kiwis are finding out right now, as Omicron cases continue to surge.
