“We nearly ran out of vaccines,” says Glenda Raumati, of Ngā Miro Health clinic in Ngāruawāhia, the lead organiser of the health workforce that delivered over 70 vaccines to whānau and rangatahi Māori at the first Drive Thru movie Max Vax event in the country.

Other Hopuhopu Max Vax events held during the day had delivered 880 vaccines, so Glenda estimated 100 for the drive-thru – only a few hours long – would be enough.  “We only had about 20+ vaccines left in the end. If, say, another five cars had turned up, we would have completely run out,” she says.

The event was organised and run completely by rangatahi associated with the That’s Us campaign – run under the umbrella of Ngāti Rangatahi. Ngāti Rangatahi is supported by Karawhiua and the Iwi Communications Collective and launched their campaign in Ngāruawāhia in September. 

Maioha Panapa, Co-Lead of the That’s Us campaign says they had over 200 cars, each with more than one person.

“Entire whānau came in 3-4 cars giving the kaupapa a whānau, hiki wairua vibe. So we were pretty stoked with the turn-out, especially the demographic we attracted.  Lots of rangatahi, but, with the whānau contingent, we had a lot of under 12s there too.”

Jason Ake, Deputy CE at Waikato-Tainui adds, “when the government lowers the age for vaccinations to 12-under, we know this model will provide another way for whole whānau to get vaccinated, because carloads of kids turned up with their parents to watch the movie.”

That’s Us launched on digital and social channels last week and is a movement led and executed entirely by rangatahi Māori. That’s Us is a platform for rangatahi to learn more about vaccination by encouraging them to access trustworthy sources of information. The hope is that by doing so, rangatahi will make informed vaccination choices.

“As rangatahi we know and feel the impact of Covid in our communities, and across our whānau. That’s why we know we need to provide a space for rangatahi to share content about this kaupapa in our way and through our channels. That’s Us is an invitation to kōrero,” says Maioha Panapa.

That’s Us is on all social platforms, and new content is loaded daily which you can access here @Thats_us | Linktree