Marama Davidson says "dropping the ‘judgy aunty’ vibe" was key in helping her nieces choose to get the Covid-19 vaccine.
The Green Party co-leader shared the story in a series of tweets on Wednesday. She said she had been trying to have one-on-one kōrero for weeks about the vaccine with four of her nieces, which strained their relationship.
"They got vaccinated this week. And our whanaungatanga survived. Enough to cry about," Davidson wrote.
"Came down to access and dropping the 'judgy aunty' vibe."
She said two of her four nieces are hapū “and were holding particular fears” about the safety of the Covid-19 Pfizer vaccine. She blamed disinformation for stoking those fears.
Medsafe approved the Pfizer vaccine for use in New Zealand after a careful assessment about their safety .
"Their mamas, my cousins, had been trying to get them over the line and none of their aroha was landing at all. I had four mothers message me to ask if I could help," Davidson said.
"I failed miserably for ages, and my necies (sic) got angry at me at first too. But I reviewed my approach and tried again.
"It felt like I had to almost tip toe back into the kōrero with them. Like walking among broken glass.
"I had to validate absolutely every single emotion they had, and suppress my reaction and fear for them. And then offer value-led dynamics for them to consider in their own time.”
Davidson said the pushback was quite harsh at first, with one of her nieces telling her: "It's not you who has to live with harming my unborn baby from the vaccine!"
"Had to breathe and walk away from that comment before I could speak at all ever again to her.
"But, then I realised that was the depth of protection they were feeling.”
She said the conversations were some of the “toughest”, but credited a Spinoff article written by microbiologist Dr Siouxsie Wiles for helping lead to a “breakthrough”.
In the article, Wiles details a personal story about her pregnancy, and why Covid-19 vaccines were safe for pregnant women.
"I hadn't understood that they needed to trust that I loved their puku pēpi just as much as I loved them. That was the first requirement. That isn't about facts, that's about them trusting that I get where they are coming from,” Davidson said.
She concluded by saying vaccinations didn’t need to dominate her interactions with her nieces, and that being interested in their whole lives was important to keep her connection with them.
Davidson said her nieces were part of a demographic that had one of the lowest protections from the vaccine : young Māori.
The Government is encouraging Kiwis who have already gotten their Covid-19 vaccines to talk to those who hadn’t yet .
Covid-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins said if people who were vaccinated helped family and friends understand why they got their jabs, that could help encourage them.
Hipkins said if people had questions about the science of vaccines, a good approach would be to refer them to a health professional.
The director of public health says it’s about understanding what people’s underlying concerns were about the Covid-19 vaccine. (Source: Other)
He said the number of people who were “staunchly anti-vaxx” in New Zealand were relatively small. Hipkins said most people just didn’t think vaccinations were urgent, or wanted to wait.
Director of public health Dr Caroline McElnay echoed his comments.
"It’s about being clear. It’s about understanding what the concern is because people do have a number of concerns," she said.
"Sometimes they’re as straightforward as not liking needles, or often they’ve heard something and they assume that fact they heard is true.”
National leader Judith Collins also had her own suggestion.
She said her message to Kiwis who were hesitant about the vaccine was this: "A lot of people like KFC ... who knows what's in those secret herbs and spices, and yet still, people eat it."
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