As the Omicron outbreak rapidly spreads across the country, Etu Pasifika, the largest Pacific health provider in Christchurch, has responded by transitioning their vaccination centre to become a Covid Hub for the Pacific community.

Pasifika Futures’ Ngalu Fānifo segment on 531 PI had it’s first segment of 2022 last week, with the talanoa focusing on the Tonga crisis and how families can approach their growing stress and anxiety levels.

Board Director of the Pasifika Medical Association (PMA) Group and Auckland pediatrician, Dr Teuila Percival (QSO, FRACP), strongly encourages Pacific families whose children are eligible - between 5 to 11 years old - to get vaccinated as Covid-19 could pose huge risks to a child’s health.

Pasifika Futures’ (PFL) Ngalu Fānifo mental health segment on 531 P.I. with Dr Siale Foliaki, recently focused on compliance and the approach to conversations around the Covid-19 vaccine.

With many high school students returning to school for a short period before their exams there will be heightened stress and anxiety among students, parents and teachers across the country. Pasifika Futures’ (PFL) Ngalu Fānifo mental health segment on 531 P.I. explored this as well as a talanoa round depression.

Being vaccinated is the best protection for Pacific communities in tackling the Covid-19 virus, says Canterbury District Health Board (CDHB) Dentist and Etu Pasifika Board Member, Dr Tule Misa.

The news of a positive Covid-19 case reaching the shores of Tonga last week, following the arrival of a chartered flight from Christchurch, has resulted in a surge of vaccination numbers for the Christchurch community. Despite new cases of Covid-19 in the community, Christchurch remains at Alert Level 2.

Etu Pasifika are running another Covid-19 vaccination drive in Ashburton this Sunday and all are welcome!

In light of the new cases in Christchurch, we are encouraging our community to get tested and vaccinated.

The Pasifika Medical Association (PMA) welcomes the decision by Government to outline a pathway for Aotearoa to move towards a Covid-19 Protection Framework. We note the intention to shift to the new framework when DHBs reach 90% full vaccination. This will be important to allow Pacific communities to plan with some certainty.

Tributes are flowing in with the sudden passing of Tauranga based Orthopaedic Surgeon and Pasifika Medical Association (PMA) member Dr Andrew MacDiarmid.

Afio mai! We're running our second Samoa Covid-19 Vaccination Day on Saturday 30th October at our clinic! We're also inviting our families from the Cook Islands, Papua New Guinea, Fiji & Niue to join us - all are welcome!