A Māori health expert fears Māori and Pasifika communities will be hit the hardest by Covid-19 and other viruses when New Zealand's borders reopen.
New Zealand will open up to vaccinated Australians from 11.59pm on April 12 and from May 1 for people from visa waiver countries and people with valid visitor visas.
On Friday the Government changed the rules for unvaccinated Kiwis, allowing them to enter NZ and skip MIQ.
“With the changes at the border now we’ve got to worry are we catching, are we aware of new variants?" Dr Rawiri Jansen told Breakfast on Monday.
Read more: Omicron peak putting strain on Auckland Māori health providers
Jansen said Covid-19 is not the only threat to people's health to worry about when the borders reopen.
“Flu, RSV (respiratory syncytical virus), we are going to see more and more of that coming in through our border, we’ve had a couple of years where we haven’t had much of that.
“This winter will have a return of those viruses, respiratory viruses returning with people as we open up our borders. That’s going to be a bumpy ride for primary care, it’s going to be a bumpy ride for whānau.”
“For many whānau they are enjoying the ability to reconnect and that’s important but it comes with some complexity I think.”
Dr Jansen also added Māori and Pasifika communities were not prioritised in NZ’s vaccine roll out.
“We had a roll out that was really based on age and had a little small piece that might have reached Māori communities and it didn’t do great.”
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