Two siblings from Kāwhia are urging their whānau to get vaccinated decades on since they both fought and survived polio.

To drive home the message of vaccination as the primary defence against the virus, local identities brother and sister Maea Marshall and John Forbes are sharing their compelling childhood story of growing up and living with health issues and disabilities since contracting polio as unvaccinated children. The siblings, and their whānau, are fronting a powerful poster campaign to drive home the message about getting the double jab to protect those you love the most. 

Here's an update of the total number of tests and vaccinations during 3 recent Raukura Hauora o Tainui visits after two recorded positive COVID results for Kāwhia.  Raukura Hauora was accompanied by staff from the Waikato DHB during the first visit to Maketū marae, Kāwhia in the weeks leading up to Labour weekend.

Kiingi Tuheitia encourages whaanau to keep following all of the lockdown guidelines as we continue to see new cases of COVID-19 in our communities. Over the past week, there have been more than 100 new cases recorded every day and most of them have been in the Tainui rohe. While vaccination is the best protection, Kiingi Tuheitia also urges whaanau to keep doing the simple things well – wear a face covering if you go out, scan in wherever you go, and keep washing your ringaringa.