Category Archives: New Zealand

Indian New Zealanders are amongst the most highly-vaccinated in the country. Photo: RNZ / Claire Eastham-Farrelly

Dharmesh Parikh rolled up his sleeve and as the needle headed for his arm, a wide grin stretched across his face. He wasn't nervous, and he didn't need reassurance. Within a few minutes he was all done, and walking out of the vaccination centre's doors in less time than it had taken him to get there. He couldn't help but feel victorious.

"I felt fantastic, fabulous. I'd done my part."

Dharmesh is just one of the 200,000 plus Indian New Zealanders heeding the call to get vaccinated. The ethnic group makes up the largest eligible Asian population, and has one of the highest uptakes of the Covid-19 vaccine per capita among ethnic groups, according to Ministry of Health data. In fact, the Indian population is so highly vaccinated it has made a mockery of the figures expected based on the 2020 population of health services users: 103 percent of those eligible have had a shot, and 97 percent are fully vaccinated. The figures outperform health service user expectations across all age demographics and DHBs.

But while media coverage has often focussed on where Covid-19 vaccination rates need to be lifted, and more recently, on protests by those who refuse to be vaccinated, the quiet efforts of New Zealand's largest Asian community have been largely ignored. So why have more than 200,000 Indian New Zealanders been so eager to get the jab?

Dharmesh Parikh was fully vaccinated by the end of March. And when it became available for over twelves, he didn't hesitate to sign his children up either. Photo: RNZ / Claire Eastham-Farrelly

Dharmesh Parikh was first up in the vaccine roll-out, courtesy of his wife's group one status. He booked his first appointment as soon as an announcement was made, and was fully vaccinated by the end of March. When the vaccine became available for over 12s, he didn't hesitate to sign his children up either.

"I have twins, two girls, Sia and Dia. The first day they made the announcement that this is open for kids over the age of 12, we booked it immediately, within the same hour. They've been fully vaccinated for about a month now. My youngest daughter Shyla is nine. If it becomes available for her, I'll probably book it the same hour as well."

Dharmesh had been following any news of a vaccine since the pandemic arrived, and was staying up-to-date with Medsafe's process. He says a strong trust in medical authority meant there was never any question around whether or not he'd be getting himself and his family vaccinated.

"There was plenty of rich information on what the process was. It was research-based, they did clinical trials, they worked to a set of government regulations. There was no reason for me not to trust the medical system. Health and education are two pillars of society - it's something you cannot do without - and I'm confident that the industry is robust, it's resilient, and they're looking for innovative ways to make our lives wonderful.

"My brother is a live kidney donor to my mum, so my mum's a transplant patient coming up to her fourteenth year of receiving it. These people saved my mum's life. They actually cut open my brother, took the kidney out and put it in my mum, and she's alive. She had to consult with the doctor, but she also got the vaccine without any hesitancy. And actually, if you look at some of these medications that you have on shelves, it's by Pfizer, the company who made this vaccine. This is a trusted company for me."

Dharmesh's mother Manjula with her grandchildren. Photo: Supplied.

Indian-born GP Dr Sapna Samant has a practice in Auckland's Grey Lynn, where a majority of her patients are of Indian descent. She says a general trust in medical bodies and vaccinations isn't just down to chance for Indian New Zealanders, but is a cultural attitude formed over many years.

"All of us come from countries where we have seen even the two generations above us being affected by these infectious diseases, and we know what that means. We have seen people die, we have seen people become very sick, we have seen people who have not been able to access healthcare. We've seen all of this, and we don't want that for ourselves."

She says past lessons have created a sense of proactivity and pragmatism within Indians both in India and abroad.

"In a massive country like India, if you fall sick, that means you can't go to work, there is no social security. If you don't work, you're not earning money. If you don't earn money, you're not feeding your family, and it's just sort of like a domino effect. Might as well take the injection and get on with life, because that means I'm earning money and I'm feeding my family.

"We carry those attitudes with us when we move overseas. Those stereotypes of the hard-working Indian or the hard-working Asian, that comes from generations of malnutrition, poverty. Those stories are alive in our heads. We don't want to go back there, so we just do whatever it takes."

Dr Sapna Samant says past lessons have created a sense of proactivity and pragmatism within Indians both in India and abroad. Photo: RNZ / Claire Eastham-Farrelly

It's an attitude Dharmesh has carried with him since he arrived in New Zealand more than 35 years ago. He hopes getting immunised will mean getting back on track to fulfilling long-held dreams for himself and his children.

"We didn't come here to be unsuccessful. My kids are striving for academic excellence, in as many fields and as many facets and subjects as they can. I'm working towards several goals in my life, financial goals that I want to achieve and goals in my career. If we get the vaccination, we get back to contributing positively again."

Monisha Kumar says growing up in Fiji, getting vaccinated was a normal part of life. Photo: RNZ / Claire Eastham-Farrelly

Monisha Kumar remembers a measles epidemic growing up in Fiji, where vaccinations were rolled out for students during school. She also remembers, more than 10 years ago, wearing a face-mask in Hong Kong airport, having travelled to India during the Swine Flu pandemic. She remembers others went to get vaccinated against the virus, and she did too.

"I was there for three months and I came back safe and sound. That was one of my life experiences, going to get vaccinated and being able to connect the dots Now that another virus has come, I know that vaccinations do help."

She says growing up in Fiji, getting vaccinated was a normal part of life.

"When we were six years old, we got a BCG [Bacillus Calmette-Gurin] injection. When we were 13 years old we got it for tetanus, rubella and BCG again. And in high school, we had measles break out at the time, and all the teenagers got vaccinated in school. They started [the roll out] in the school holidays, before school started in January. We had signed up to get it done, it was a procedure we'd gone through since primary. We were happy to get it, it was normal for us to get the shot and protect ourselves."

For Monisha, signing up to get vaccinated at school was a procedure shed gone through since primary - and she was happy to get it. Photo: RNZ / Claire Eastham-Farrelly

Monisha is a secondary school teacher at One Tree Hill College, and heads her own dance company in Auckland. Like Dharmesh, she took the opportunity to get vaccinated at an earlier stage in the roll-out plan than intended.

"It was a waiting game for me with the different groups. I was told that maybe December I would be getting vaccinated. It's quite a long time to wait, so when my mum - she's in the 50-64 range - got her letter, she signed up and got me, my brother and my sister-in-law in for the first dose as well. That was in August, we went and got our second vaccination in October."

Her story is similar to many Indian New Zealanders living in multi-generational homes, and Dr Sapna says these particular living arrangements may have contributed to the community's higher rates of vaccine uptake - with individuals making the trip to the clinic a family affair.

"My mother lives with me. She's 80, and I have a 10-year-old son. And knowing from my patients, a lot of them live in similar households with at least three generations living in the same house. We all want to take care of each other, so we want to make sure that nobody falls sick.

"You're gonna take your mum to get a vaccine, then think I'm gonna get it as well. This is a cultural quirk too, isn't it? We jump the queue. It's a very Desi thing, to put in colloquial terms. We don't want to line up for anything, we don't want to stand in a queue. I know heaps of people who got it done by July. We're due for a booster perhaps, if they allow us."

Dr Sapna says Indian New Zealanders multi-generational living arrangements may have contributed to the community's high vaccination rates. Photo: RNZ / Claire Eastham-Farrelly

But things weren't quite as simple as that in Monisha's household. Her dad was actually the first in their family eligible to get vaccinated - he just wasn't too keen on getting it.

"He didn't want to go and get the vaccine, he was against it, so we just let him be. He didn't state his reasons but I could see one of them was fear, maybe he was scared."

Eventually, however, Monisha realised she would have to talk her dad around if her business was to operate safely again.

"I run a dance company and I would want my dancers to come and rehearse at home if we ever need to work on a show, and I would want everyone in my household to be vaccinated so everything's safe. I spoke to my dad regarding this, we had a good father-daughter krero. I said, 'Look, I've been doing a lot of research, talking to a lot of people regarding the vaccine'. Everyone in my family knows I'm very strongly opinionated and that there are loads of reasons why I do things, I don't just do things for the sake of doing it, there's a lot of thought that's gone behind it. And so he agreed.

"I think it was just me talking to him about it. You know, that role-modelling thing comes into effect. If you see someone in the family who's gone and done it and see they're okay, you know you'll be okay. So that was our success story, that everyone in the house was able to get vaccinated."

Monisha loved to dance as a child in Fiji. Now she heads her own dance company in Auckland. Photo: RNZ / Claire Eastham-Farrelly

Monisha's household isn't the only place she's experienced vaccine-hesitant attitudes. With vaccine mandates kicking in for teachers and school staff, there's been a small uprising from some educators refusing to get the jab.

"Some teachers believe there's a harmful chemical in the vaccine. Just two weeks ago, we got a clarification at my school. There was a forum our principal chose to have which was run by former students at One Tree Hill College. The doctors and nurses who were part of that forum explained what was actually in that vaccine. It was a really good forum to have, it really cleared some doubts.

"I'm teaching years 11, 12, and 13 face-to-face, we're wearing masks, and I feel a sense of responsibility as a teacher. You have to be double-vaccinated, not just to protect yourself, but also to protect the children at school who are coming, and their parents who are trusting us as teachers to send their children to school, to make sure their child is safe."

Monisha Kumar remembers a measles epidemic growing up in Fiji, where vaccinations were rolled out for students during school. Photo: RNZ / Claire Eastham-Farrelly

For Dharmesh, it's not all about science. His faith is a driving force in his life and one of the many reasons he chose to get vaccinated. The way he explains it, his faith and the Hindu philosophy of being a compassionate people ties in to the need to be vaccinated for the greater good.

"We believe in medicine, we believe in remedies. Even in our scriptures and stories, in the great epics, there's mention of various medications right throughout. My root as a Hindu and my philosophy is that we are a compassionate people, we need to look after one another. We won't just believe in 'look after yourself and your family and that's done and dusted and everyone will look after themselves'. We believe in sacrifice as well. In Ramayan, Lord Rama went out and did his deeds without seeing any caste or creed, he helped people along his way. And that's what we need to do, we need to help people along the way."

Dharmesh says this means looking out for the more vulnerable members of his community too, particularly the elderly and the immuno-compromised.

"Last year when this broke out, you could see people who are really old or have had other medical conditions dying from it. It was really, really horrifying. If by me getting this vaccination I could be even one slight bit a contributing factor to them not getting it, then that's the least I could do for the community. I consider myself healthy, I don't have any pre-existing medical conditions, I'd be less likely to catch that virus and fall severely ill from it. My rationale to get the vaccine was to do my bit for the community, for the elderly especially.

"Also, if I'm not gonna fall sick and be a burden to the hospital system, then that's one less bed they have to source from elsewhere. I'm freeing up that system, I'm out of the way. And why would I not want to be protected as well? If I was unfortunate and required hospitalisation and didn't make it through, my family would suffer. It would be a burden on the community to support my family, or maybe they would make do, but without my support."

Dharmesh and Swapna with their children Sia, Dia and Shyla. Photo: RNZ / Claire Eastham-Farrelly

Dr Sapna says while holistic healing practices rooted in Hinduism are common among Indian communities around the world, their teachings haven't generally deterred people from seeking out science-based medical care.

"The Ayurvedic way of life, understanding your body and your digestive system, eating seasonally and eating the right kinds of foods, we still practice that. If you're eating, you don't eat the rice before the chapati, you always eat the chapati before the rice, and if you have a round thali, the food is served in a specific way. But I would say these beliefs crossover more into matters of wellbeing. There's nothing in religions from South Asia that says, 'if you believe in a certain God, then you should not be taking these kinds of medicines'. That is not there."

While the high rate of vaccination among the Indian population is impressive, Dr Sapna is reticent about comparing statistics with those of other ethnic groups, saying the experience of the Indian diaspora in New Zealand is incomparable to that of its indigineous peoples, as are the sets of obstacles they face.

"Vulnerable communities here and their histories, their colonial history, that's really, really complex. A lack of trust in authority is one of the reasons why people tend not to get vaccinated. It's too complex to compare. But without getting into any of that, I would say that actually, not getting the vaccine is going to harm the community more, because more people are going to fall sick, more people are going to die. Just that fear of death and the fear of all the morbidity that's going to affect these communities should be enough for them to get vaccinated, rather than any religion or distrust in authority. The desire to get on with life is something that can be learned from us. If there is a solution, get it and move forward, you know? But that's just putting it really simplistically."

Monisha is keen to move forward and says it would be nice to regain some form of normalcy.

"We know that living with Covid is gonna be a new norm - and I know that there are people whose thinking is still rigid and they don't want to change - but look at other countries and how they're living with Covid now. You look at India, everything's open now. They're wearing masks, they're social distancing, they're going for tests if they're sick, they're getting vaccinated - we can see it's working."

And if you're looking for a real life example of the vaccine at work, Dharmesh says he's your man.

"I've been vaccinated since March. I survived, I'm laughing, I'm well. My kids have been vaccinated, they're well. If this vaccine was having adverse effects, I wouldn't be speaking to you now. I'm one of the millions who've got it. These people who have made this vaccine, they're humans like you and I. They're from our communities. Why on earth would they come up with something that was going to put your life in danger? Why would they go through this whole huge, expensive, rigmarole process if it's not going to make a positive difference? Please, take the opportunity, trust the humans, and if you're hesitant, do give it another thought."

See more here:

Indian New Zealanders amongst the most highly-vaccinated in the country - RNZ

"Based on what I've read on their website, it's a mixture of racism, anti-vaxx, etcetera, etcetera," Nash said in Parliament.

Ardern won't ask Nash to say sorry.

"I wouldn't use that language. I wouldn't describe, generally, an entire group of people in that way," she said. "But I am not going to ask him to apologise for his comments."

But Groundswell wants Nash to apologise.

"What he said was totally incorrect so we want him to actually apologise to us actually, for saying that," said Bryce McKenzie, organiser of Groundwell.

National leader Judith Collins described it as "a nasty attack" and "really insulting".

And perhaps the Government should listen, because it's not just Groundswell opposed to Three Waters.

The latest Newshub-Reid Research poll shows about 48 percent - almost half the country - doesn't support the reforms. Just 27 percent support it, and another 25 percent are undecided.

Some people just don't get it. Here's a hint - Three Waters is not still, sparkling or tap. It's drinking, waste and stormwater - and the Government wants to take away council control of them.

Three Waters doesn't even float the boat of the majority of Labour voters. The poll found that 40 percent of them agree with it, while a third - 30 percent - don't, and 31 percent are unsure.

The Prime Minister has no intention of backing down.

"No, we didn't take these decisions lightly," she said. "They've taken years of consideration."

The Government spent $3.5 million of taxpayer money advertising Three Waters. The fact so few Kiwis understand it and so many are opposed to it is ample ammo for the Opposition to accuse the Government of flushing $3.5 million down the drain.

The Newshub-Reid Research poll was conducted between 10-17 November with a margin of error of 3.1 percent.

Read more here:

Newshub-Reid Research poll: Half of New Zealand doesn't support Three Waters reforms - Newshub

Think it feels like summer already? That's because summer weather conditions have arrived early in most parts of New Zealand this year.

WeatherWatch.co.nz says New Zealand's location in the South Pacific, halfway between the equator and Antarctica, means each year our seasons can be timed differently weatherwise.

The early summer pattern in NZ this year can be measured in a couple of main ways. 1) It's much warmer than usual in most places, both day and night. 2) It's much drier than usual in many regions over the coming week or two.

"We also see a lot of extra high pressure rolling in for the rest of November and the start of December," says a spokesperson for the weather organisation.

"This also helps confirm the drier, warmer, set up is in no hurry to leave just yet. Some rain events are coming up long term, most likely in the very upper North Island and the lower West Coast.

"Of course, not everyone is experiencing this early summer weather every day of the week. The lower South Island is still getting colder changes and nationwide last week we had a couple of colder nights. This weekend the lower South Island has a wetter, briefly colder, change.

"But the trend now is to see more warmer than average and drier than average days for most places for the end of November and the start of December."

Rainfall: Over the next two weeks highest totals to be in the very north of NZ and the lower West Coast. Southland and even Hawke's Bay also have some additional wet weather (although some may be inland downpours over the ranges only). Many other areas are leaning quite dry, especially the upper and eastern South Island which has very little rain over the next two weeks.

Temperatures: Many places will be in the 20s with some inland in the mid to late 20s at times this week. A brief cool down arrives in the lower South Island this Saturday but may only last one or two days, along with bringing in some rain.

More:

Summer arrives early this year in New Zealand - The Bay's News First - SunLive

Disposable masks, washed and worn again, still protect better than a triple-layered cloth one, a group of New Zealand researchers say.

Microbiologist Richard Everts washing a disposable mask in warm water. Photo: Supplied

The study concluded that disposable masks could be put through a washing machine 10 times and still outperform three layers of cotton.

On the streets of central Auckland, many people have chosen a cloth mask over disposable ones, including Nora, who was wearing one dotted with colourful flower patterns.

"You don't need to waste [the mask] all the time... You don't have to throw [them] away and it's very fashionable, very cute," she said, adding that it's also more comfortable.

Nelson-based microbiologist Richard Everts said it was a "false benefit" to seek comfort over protection as some fabric masks have thin layers and may not fit well.

The research project lead said the performance of single-use commercial medical masks are the result of decades of research.

"We found that commercial masks, even when you wash them 10 times, were better than the fabrics - even when you had three layers of fabric, one on top of the other, the commercial masks were still better."

Everts said his team got a few brands of disposable medical masks and fired Covid-sized particles towards the fabric.

They found brand new medical masks stopped up to 98 percent of the particles. Then they washed them in eight different ways - the harshest being in a washing machine, or by using detergent, soap or bleach.

After 10 consecutive washes using those deep clean methods the disposal masks still filtered out about half of the particles.

Microbiologist Richard Everts says it's a "false benefit" to seek comfort over protection as some fabric masks have thin layers and may not fit well. Photo: Supplied

Everts explained how to wash the disposable masks.

"The best way to do is a way that includes water to clean away all the biological material, and preferably warm or hot water, because that will get rid of bacteria and viruses and kill them and then you have to let it dry. The drying will kill any virus that is still there and most bacteria."

The researchers then fired particles at single-layer fabric such as cotton. Washed or unwashed - the result was the same - cotton only stopped 10 percent of the particles. When triple layered, the material still only hit 40 percent.

Senior research fellow at the University of Otago Wellington, Lucy Telfar Barnard, also worked on the mask study.

Resercher Lucy Telfar Barnard says she recommends people to wash their disposable masks. Photo: Supplied

She said in a medical setting single-use masks should be treated as immediately disposable after first use but for an average consumer, it's safe to wash and reuse. She said it's also a greener approach.

"I absolutely recommend people to wash their disposable masks. There's an environmental impact from just disposing of them. They are made generally of synthetic materials, so they'll take a little while to break down," she said.

Barnard said a well-fitted mask is as important as the material.

"It's that combination of fit and filter which really is doing the work. If you've got a poorly-fitting mask then then it really cuts down the effectiveness of it."

Epidemiologist from the University of Otago, professor Michael Baker, says many masks on sale are not up to standard and should be banned from sale. He said a national mask strategy is needed, and it should cover two areas.

"One is that it gives really clear guidance about what mask to use, when to use them and where to use them and the second thing it will do is that it would set national standards for masks so that you know that when you went to buy a commercial say a fabric mask, a reusable mask, you'd know that it was fit for purpose."

Baker said it should also be made clear what criteria homemade masks need to meet.

See the original post:

Disposable masks washed 10 times still more protective than triple-layer fabric masks - study - RNZ

After months of restrictions, Aucklanders will be out of lockdown and able to travel outside the region in four weeks time but things will look vastly different for those who are vaccinated against Covid-19 and those who arent.

On Wednesday, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced that only fully vaccinated people or those who have had a negative test will be permitted to leave Auckland when the border lifts on December 15.

Before that happens, the country will have transitioned into the traffic light framework which introduces further restrictions for unvaccinated New Zealanders, following a Cabinet review on November 29.

MARK TAYLOR/Stuff

New Zealand has high vaccination coverage, but those who are unvaccinated will see their freedoms shrink in the coming weeks and months.

The introduction of vaccine passes will see unvaccinated people unable to visit bars, restaurants and many venues. Even at the lowest level in the framework, restrictions will apply if vaccine certificates are not used.

READ MORE:* Covid-19: Experts say vaccination push needed as virus 'will travel for summer'* Covid-19: Government to open Auckland border on December 15, allowing travel for Christmas* Covid-19: Freedoms shrinking for unvaccinated* Covid-19: A 'freedom day' for Auckland nears, the spread of Covid-19 elsewhere looms

New Zealand has high vaccination coverage: 91 per cent of eligible New Zealanders have had their first dose, and 82 per cent are fully vaccinated.

We know there are some still making the decision over when to be vaccinated but we need to make decisions now that will protect them and others, Ardern said on Wednesday.

When the country moves into the traffic light system, New Zealand will not be alone in restricting freedoms to those who have not been vaccinated.

Queensland, in Australia, will bar unvaccinated people from restaurants, cafes, pubs and sports stadiums from mid-December.

In Wales, an NHS Covid Pass which shows the person is either fully vaccinated or has had a negative test result within 48 hours is required to enter nightclubs, cinemas, theatres, and large indoor/outdoor events.

And in Singapore, those unvaccinated by choice will no longer be able to get free treatment for Covid-19.

Just this week, Austria placed about two million people who have not been fully vaccinated against Covid-19 in lockdown for at least 10 days, as the country faces a surge in cases.

Stuff

Vaccine passes were introduced in New Zealand on Wednesday, and will soon be instrumental in the way many of us live our lives.

Unvaccinated people (over the age of 12) are only allowed to leave home for limited reasons, such as working or buying food.

About 65 per cent of Austria's population is fully vaccinated one of the lowest rates in Western Europe, the BBC reported.

Parts of Germany are also introducing similar restrictions for unvaccinated people.

In Saxony, only people who can prove they have been vaccinated or have recovered from Covid will be allowed entry to non-essential shops and facilities; and in North Rhine-Westphalia unvaccinated people are excluded from all non-essential facilities and events, the Guardian reported on Tuesday.

Ross Giblin/Stuff

University of Otago (Wellington) professor Michael Baker said a person's choice not to be vaccinated affects the health of others, and supported restrictions to mitigate risk.

Epidemiologist and University of Otago (Wellington) professor Michael Baker said there were a number of positives with the traffic light system, not least that it sends an unequivocal message people must be vaccinated if they want to have certain freedoms.

He likened it to passive smoking: sitting next to someone in a restaurant, plane or movie theatre who lights up a cigar can put you at an increased risk. The same is true for sitting next to an unvaccinated person, even if you are vaccinated.

Baker said restrictions for unvaccinated people made sense from a public health and ethics perspective just like banning smoking indoors made sense.

Your choice not to be vaccinated affects other peoples health.

Restrictions for unvaccinated people under the impending traffic light system put a damper on that behaviour, while also nudging others to get vaccinated to be able to partake in greater freedoms.

Despite that, Baker believed the move to dissolve Auckland's border in a months time was premature.

The risk of Aucklanders to the rest of the country is higher than that posed by most people coming into managed isolation and quarantine (MIQ) from overseas, he said, but a different bar had been set for them.

Ricky Wilson/Stuff

Auckland's boundary will be lifted from December 15, with restrictions on who can leave the region.

He noted it was really tough to get this right, but said we wont have the vaccination barrier intact by the time this diaspora happens out of Auckland.

Baker expected Covid-19 would reach every corner of the North Island by the end of summer.

That created a moral quandary of sorts, given the worrying unevenness and holes in the countrys vaccination coverage.

Rates for Mori are 20 per cent lower than the national average, and as Mori made up the majority of cases, they would be the group getting sick and dying, Baker said.

Even with high vaccination coverage overall, we're seeing something we never wanted to see, a very uneven pandemic.

View original post here:

Covid-19: How New Zealand's vaccine restrictions compare to those overseas - Stuff.co.nz

After the needle entered his right arm, the man raised his left fist in a brief salute. Surgical mask covering parts of his facial tattoos, he nodded to the nurse. A long ponytail cut a line through the blue and white letters covering his back: a patch, signifying membership of one of New Zealands largest and most infamous street gangs. Mark Pitman, leader of Black Power New Zealand, was getting vaccinated on national television.

I want to do it and I want the rest of our organisation around the country to know Ive got it done, Pitman told the camera. Im a leader. And I lead from example.

Pitman is one of a small but growing cohort of New Zealand gang leaders who have found themselves in the spotlight of the countrys vaccination rollout, as it aims to get shots in the arms of the most vulnerable and hardest to reach. About 8,000 New Zealanders are members of street gangs, the best-known of which are the red-branded Mongrel Mob and blue Black Power, two usually competing factions with chapters across the country.

Some gang members are involved in criminal activity, while many others are no more criminal than the communities from which they come, says Dr Jarrod Gilbert, director of criminal justice at University of Canterbury, who researches and documents gangs. However, gangs have an intimidating reputation in New Zealand. Pitman was previously sentenced to three-and-half years in prison and had a gang pad seized under the proceeds of crime act for masterminding what prosecutors alleged was a million dollar-plus a year drug-selling operation.

Now, in its pursuit of some of the worlds highest vaccination rates, New Zealands government and health officials have found themselves working with unusual bedfellows. Cabinet ministers are meeting with gang leaders to hash out a strategy and some have even been granted essential worker status in the Covid response. As some of New Zealands most alienated, marginalised and distrustful communities, the gangs provide a microcosm of the challenges facing New Zealands Covid response and vaccine rollout. But some experts and leaders say the Covid cooperation also presents an opportunity to re-examine how the gangs and government relate, and to confront some of the social problems that feed their existence.

Ive been on the road since Friday last week, says Harry Tam through a speaker phone intermittently cut out by GPS directions. The long-time affiliate of the Mongrel Mob, who has not been accused of involvement in organised crime, is behind the wheel again during this interview, reeling off destinations: Went to Rotorua to talk to some of the mob leaders from the Bay of Plenty Waihau Bay, to the East Cape chapter Kawerau, working with the president of the Te Teko chapter of the Notorious Mongrel Mob to vaccinate his members and their families we did 27 that day.

Tam, who got involved with the Mongrel Mob when he was a teenager, has kept a foot in two worlds: as well as maintaining honorary Mob membership, he works in social service provision and spent years as a senior policy adviser. For the last two months, much of his time has been dedicated to sketching a line back and forth across New Zealand, town to town, gang pad to gang pad, patched member to member.

We are trying to beat the casualties, Tam says. But he says doing so involves trying to dismantle some of the distrust of government that has been bred over many years.

And of course, our people have good reason to be suspicious of the government, because many of them come from a background where government hasnt been good to them.

Many of the countrys original gang members were raised in brutal circumstances as wards of the state. In the years since, families have often experienced multiple generations of abuse, family separation and poverty interacting with the state primarily through the criminal justice system. Now, he says the government must learn from the Covid experience: neglecting communities like these can have repercussions through all of New Zealand.

Theres one hell of a lesson here to be learned. Its amazing, governments have neglected this community for decades, and conveniently forgotten about it and then all of a sudden, Covid comes out, all of a sudden, theyre all worried that if this community wont get vaccinated, they may infect us, he says.

This community is kicked around like a political football at the whim of politicians, never paying any attention as to why these communities exist and why they behave in the way that they do. Theres no pro-social policies directed at them. The only policy is law enforcement, law enforcement and more law enforcement, Tam says.

Government has acknowledged that Gangs are in our community everywhere, says Mori development minister Willie Jackson. It was a no-brainer to actually support some of their ideas in terms of getting them vaccinated.

It was Jackson who suggested to cabinet that he meet with the gang leaders arguing that if they remained unvaccinated, the gangs and their networks around the country were not only at risk themselves, but putting others at risk too. The pathway forward, he said, had to be one of cooperation.

How do you get to them? Well, youve got to get to them with their own.

He says the strategy has worked. Last weekend, Jackson spent Saturday at his local marae (Mori meeting ground), vaccinating the local king cobra gang. Im not a huge great gang supporter or whatever. Im a supporter of our community and other people.

The gangs are often a petri dish: you see reflected in there the acute examples of whatever is happening in society, say Gilbert. If you can understand the gangs, you understand poverty, you understand intergenerational violence, he says. Its no different now with the Covid response.

The latest examples of government dialogue with the gangs could inform other future programmes, he says. The pragmatic moves here to address the Covid and vaccine issues within the gangs could just as easily be used to tackle the social problems that surround the gangs more generally.

But working with the gangs has risks especially for politicians, who are acutely aware of the potential for blowback and negative headlines.

Tam, as well as at least one Mongrel Mob president, was granted essential worker status by the government to do this work, a fact that immediately generated headlines and accusations. Former deputy prime minister Winston Peters accused him on national television of using the status to smuggle a Covid-positive woman out of lockdown a false claim that Peters was forced to retract and apologise for.

Gilbert says how the response to Tam illustrates the wider political challenges to the government of working with gang communities.

The government did take some highly pragmatic and I would argue very important moves to work with certain gang leaders to influence their communities. But of course it only took five minutes for that to be in the media before there were howls of protest, he says. This situation is of our own making, because for the longest time, weve talked about the gangs in wholly negative and quite sensationalist ways.

As minister, Jackson says those howls have been mostly silenced in the face of Covid. Pragmatism has won out. You cant run your political strategy or your political party based on whats the next poll gonna be. Youve got to run it based on principle.

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Unusual bedfellows: how gangs are pushing New Zealands Covid vaccination drive - The Guardian

France held off a second-half fightback from New Zealand to claim a 40-25 victory in Paris and end a 14-match losing streak against the All Blacks.

New Zealand, who made seven changes as they looked for an immediate response to last weekends 29-20 loss to Ireland, trailed 24-6 at half-time as a rampant home side took complete control at the Stade de France.

However, three tries in 12 minutes after the interval from Jordie Barrett, Rieko Ioane and Ardie Savea saw New Zealand close to within two points of their hosts at 27-25, as well as becoming the first team in Test match history to score 100 tries in a single season.

At that point French hopes of a first win over the three-time World Cup winners since 2009 and first on home soil since a 42-33 triumph in Marseille in 2000 looked to be fading fast, but an incident in the 63rd minute saw the pendulum swing back their way.

Savea was sent to the sin-bin to reduce New Zealand to 14 men and France took full advantage with Melvyn Jaminet slotting over the resulting penalty before Damian Penaud broke away for an interception try.

At 37-25 down, there was no way back for New Zealand and France, who had seen Peato Mauvaka score twice either side of Romain Ntamacks try in a dominant first-half display, wrapped up a memorable win with Jaminets late penalty.

The home sides stunning performance completed a perfect series for France after wins against Argentina and Georgia, and gave them their first victory in Paris against the All Blacks since 1973, two years before they host the World Cup.

France coach Fabien Galthie said: We had this game in mind as a moment of truth. The team lived up to what we promised ourselves.

Thats not the way we wanted to finish our year, said New Zealands captain, Samuel Whitelock. No excuses at all they were better than us. It hurts to say that but weve got to hold on to that feeling because we dont want to feel it again.

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France stand firm to seal first victory over New Zealand for 12 years - The Guardian

New DELHI, Nov 21 (Reuters) - India romped to a 73-run victory over New Zealand in their third and final Twenty20 International in Kolkata on Sunday as head coach Rahul Dravid began his tenure with a 3-0 series sweep.

Home captain Rohit Sharma smashed 56 off 31 balls to fire the hosts to a strong 184-7 in the dead rubber at Eden Gardens.

Martin Guptill made a breezy 51 but New Zealand, runners-up at the recent Twenty20 World Cup, were all out for 111 in the 18th over.

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"It's nice to start well," Dravid, who inherited the coaching reins from Ravi Shastri after the World Cup, told the official broadcasters.

"But we have to be realistic about this win and keep our feet on the ground."

"It's been really good to see some of the younger guys come through."

Opting to bat, India plundered 69 runs off the first six overs and, after a mid-innings blip, 50 off the last five to post a strong total.

Having taken over as India's 20-overs captain after Virat Kohli relinquished the role following the World Cup, Rohit combined with Ishan Kishan (29) to give India a flying start.

Mitchell Santner (3-27) dismissed Kishan and Suryakumar Yadav in the same over and then Ish Sodhi took a sharp return catch from Rohit to bring some relief for the tourists.

India accelerated in the last five overs with Deepak Chahar providing the late assault with 21 off eight balls.

When they returned to defend the total, spinner Axar Patel (3-9) removed Daryl Mitchell and Mark Chapman in the same over to rattle New Zealand.

Guptill refused to get bogged down though, racing to a 33-ball fifty to keep New Zealand on course.

The opener clobbered four sixes and contributed 51 of the 69 runs that the tourists scored in the first 10 overs.

But once Yuzvendra Chahal removed Guptill in the 11th over, India had the game in the bag.

The teams will now lock horns in a two-test series beginning in Kanpur on Thursday.

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Reporting by Amlan Chakraborty in Dubai; editing by Toby Davis

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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India sweep T20 series against New Zealand to kick off Dravid era - Reuters India

For more than a year, New Zealands team of 5 million stood largely united in the face of Covid-19. This month, as the country expanded vaccine mandates and a tougher roadmap of restrictions for the unvaccinated, that mood has splintered and darkened. Among a small but vocal sliver of the population, dissent has been turning ugly, with death threats against MPs and journalists, increasing protests, warnings from security services about Covid-prompted terror threats, and what researchers have called a wave of disinformation tinged with violent rhetoric, QAnon-style conspiracy theories and far-right undertones.

Were talking your aunt and uncle type-people using language like Nuremberg 2.0, common law trials, like the prime minister is a Nazi these are quite extreme terms and terminologies, says Kate Hannah, a research fellow at Te Pnaha Matatinis disinformation project, a research institute that monitors online extremism and rhetoric. Hannah says the team observed an incredibly rapid shift in both the volume and tone of disinformation circulating in New Zealands online communities since the Delta outbreak and level 4 lockdown began.

Since August 2021 to now, there has been almost a day-on-day increase in both the volume of production of misinformation products or things being shared, the level of engagement by communities and also the tone, she said. An unregulated online environment, particularly on chat app Telegram, she said, had normalised very, very quickly content which is extremely violent.

Some of that online chatter manifested in the flesh last week in a series of anti-vaccine mandate protests, several-thousand strong. While the protests were broadly peaceful, one police officer was bitten by a demonstrator, and a news outlet reported that one of their journalists had been harassed and pushed by protesters.

The signs and slogans proffered by the crowds presented an odd blend of factions and allegiances tino rangatiratanga [Mori sovereignty] flags alongside Nazi imagery, anti-vaccine mottoes, evangelical preachers, those calling for the prime ministers arrest and execution. Hannah says that same blend is what researchers are seeing online where the rhetoric and networks of vaccine-scepticism are acting as a Trojan horse for more extreme ideologies.

People genuinely feel excluded from society there are genuine grievances and genuine fears, Hannah said. And the shifts in political rhetoric have accompanied the countrys material change in pandemic fortunes. While the country rode out most of 2020 as a Covid-free idyll, now it has had to reckon with months-long lockdowns, steadily growing case numbers, near-daily deaths, and the threat of lost jobs and freedoms for those who refuse vaccination.

While it will still likely emerge with relatively low rates of illness and death, current circumstances have unleashed new levels of loss and uncertainty. Internationally, Hannah says many of those same tensions and injuries have played out over the course of a year now, theyre hitting New Zealand all at once, and it makes some sense that that would be accompanied by a corresponding wave of dissatisfaction, dissent and fury.

There is the sense that we are playing really fast catch-up, Hannah said. All of the things that are great about having been here like we have only had 35 deaths also mean that its so much harder for everybody to conceive of what everybody else [around the world] has experienced. So the sense of genuine disenfranchisement, the sense of genuine fear that harm is occurring to people those are really genuine and sincere.

The threat of that rhetoric exploding into violence has been acknowledged by both parliament and the countrys counter-terror services.

This week, the country boosted its parliamentary security, after a spate of death threats against members of parliament and cabinet. Parliamentary services added a small budget to help MPs change locks or security systems. While she has not reported specific threats by anti-vaccine mandate campaigners, prime minister Jacinda Ardern has had a string of death threats since she took the job, including several men charged through the courts. She is a frequent subject of online screeds, and some protesters written slogans last week specifically called for violence against the prime minister. Covid response minister and leader of the house Chris Hipkins said that one of his electoral offices had been subject to repeated attacks from anti-vaxxers, and that he had stepped up security.

The Combined Threat Assessment Group (CTAG), an inter-agency government security group, has identified backlash to Covid-19 restrictions or vaccine mandates as a potential threat. In documents published by Newshub this month, they write that Further restrictions or potential vaccination programmes in New Zealand could be triggers for New Zealand-based violent extremists to conduct an act of terrorist violence.

Things are starting to escalate, Labour whip Kieran McAnulty told Stuff on Tuesday, after hed been publicly denounced by an anti-vaccine campaigner, who said those pushing it should be killed by a lethal injection. Lets take it seriously. McAnulty had met with parliamentary services to ask that more security measures be considered.

Those interventions came with a measure of sadness New Zealand has long valued its highly accessible democracy, where government grounds are open, tours of parliament are easily accessible, and MPs are not typically accompanied by security. Ive always believed that New Zealand parliamentarians being as accessible as we are is something special about New Zealand, and Im generally reluctant to see that change, Hipkins said.

The actions of a small group of individuals is the problem here, and it would be sad to see the openness of our democracy being undermined by a small group of vocal and aggressive people.

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Dissent, threats and fury: mood darkens in New Zealand as Covid restrictions bite - The Guardian

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Ross Taylor is wary of New Zealand's two-fold challenge: playing India in India, and carrying the weight of coming in as WTC champs

"We can say we're world champions now and that's suddenly different, trying to retain it," Taylor said. "It's sort of a harder place to start. We started in Sri Lanka last time and we drew that series. It's going to be a great two years I'm sure."

Taylor believes experience will be key in overcoming the challenges of a series in India. "We've gone so many years as underdogs. But now coming in as champions: I guess the element of surprise is gone. But any time you play India at home you're going to be the underdogs, whether you're No. 1 in the world or where they sit in international cricket at the time. They are resting a couple of players but they're still a formidable side and know these conditions really well.

"The way we adapt to these conditions is going to be the key going forward. Some of the guys have played many a time here before. We'll be looking forward to hopefully use that experience to make things slightly easier but we know it's going to be tough."

Taylor had mixed feelings about his long break, acknowledging how crucial it is to get some game-time ahead of playing in Indian conditions. This time around even more so, as New Zealand have had to train without additional net bowlers due to Covid-19 restrictions.

"When you're coming to India you want to play as much cricket as you want and can," Taylor said. "Preparation so far has been fantastic. [But] it's a little bit different having no net bowlers, you know, facing our [own] bowlers as preparation. It's been key. I have been lining up to face spinners, they bowl a lot of overs. Normally you [also] get 10-15 overs of net bowlers of spin to practice. It is slightly different but it is what it is and it's an interesting challenge both on the field and off it as well."

Taylor has some experience playing Test cricket in the country, having been on tours in 2010, 2012 and 2016, and he has some ideas on how New Zealand can tackle India's bowlers in these conditions.

"Obviously spin plays a major part. The new ball, it can do a bit but it can also be the easiest time to score sometimes. India have world-class spinners and know how to set batters up in these conditions. For us, it's about been able to pick up the lengths as quick as possible and trust the defence.

"When there are a lot of men around the bat, it can be an intimidating place to start your innings but having said that... Getting through those first 10-20 balls is going to be crucial and it's a bit of a cliche, but things do get easier. But no, it's going to a big challenge for us, especially the batting unit."

After the conclusion of the ongoing T20I series, which India has wrapped up with a game to spare, the first Test kicks off on November 25 in Kanpur followed by a second in Mumbai from December 3.

Sruthi Ravindranath is a sub-editor at ESPNcricinfo

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Ross Taylor: 'Any time you play India at home, you're going to be the underdogs' - ESPNcricinfo.com