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Public Health

Assessment of Ethnic Inequities and Subpopulation Estimates in COVID-19 Vaccination in New Zealand

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To identify the key insights or developments described in this article

1 Credit CME

JAMA Network Open

Published Online: June 21, 2022

Research Letter

Article Information and Disclosures

Andrew Anglemyer, MPH, PhD^1,2;

Corina Grey, MBChB, PhD³;

Collin Tukuitonga, MPH⁴;

Andrew Sporle, MA⁵;

Gerard J. B. Sonder, MD, PhD^2,6

Author Affiliations

¹Department of Preventive and Social Medicine, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand
²Health Intelligence Team, Institute of Environmental Science and Research, Wellington, New Zealand
³Vaka Tautua, Auckland District Health Board, Auckland, New Zealand
⁴Faculty of Medical and Health Sciences, University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand
⁵Statistics Department, University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand
⁶Department of Internal Medicine, Amsterdam Infection and Immunity Institute, Amsterdam UMC, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, the Netherlands

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COVID-19 has exposed inequities in access to care, baseline health, and economic standing.¹^,2 In Aotearoa New Zealand, Pacific peoples and Māori have disproportionately experienced poor SARS-CoV-2 outcomes. To ensure prevention and care equity, the COVID-19 vaccination program targeted high-risk people first. In October 2021, the Ministry of Health (MoH) announced 90% vaccine coverage targets among eligible populations, obviating the need for future lockdowns.³ Beginning December 2021, vaccination proof was required for everyone aged at least 12 years to access certain venues (eg, hospitality services); Pfizer-BioNTech (BNT162b2) booster vaccines were required for specific occupations (eg, health care). We highlight the outcome of different population estimate methodologies on relative gaps in vaccination between ethnic groups and the resulting population risk.

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Article Information

Accepted for Publication: April 23, 2022.

Published: June 21, 2022. doi:10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2022.17653

Correction: This article was corrected on July 22, 2022, to fix the y-axis scale in Figure 1B and 1C.

Open Access: This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the CC-BY License. © 2022 Anglemyer A et al. JAMA Network Open.

Corresponding Author: Andrew Anglemyer, MPH, PhD, Department of Preventive and Social Medicine, University of Otago, 362 Leith St, Dunedin North 9016, New Zealand (andrew.anglemyer@otago.ac.nz).

Author Contributions: Dr Anglemyer had full access to all of the data in the study and takes responsibility for the integrity of the data and the accuracy of the data analysis.

Concept and design: Anglemyer, Sporle, Sonder.

Acquisition, analysis, or interpretation of data: Anglemyer, Grey, Tukuitonga, Sporle.

Drafting of the manuscript: Anglemyer, Sporle, Sonder.

Critical revision of the manuscript for important intellectual content: All authors.

Statistical analysis: Anglemyer, Sporle, Sonder.

Administrative, technical, or material support: Anglemyer, Grey, Tukuitonga, Sporle.

Supervision: Anglemyer, Sonder.

Conflict of Interest Disclosures: Dr Grey reported receiving grants from the Heart Foundation and grants from the National Science Challenge (Healthier Lives) outside the submitted work. No other disclosures were reported.

References

Aldridge RW , Lewer D , Katikireddi SV , et al. Black, Asian, and minority ethnic groups in England are at increased risk of death from COVID-19: indirect standardisation of NHS mortality data. Wellcome Open Res. 2020;5:88. doi:10.12688/wellcomeopenres.15922.2 PubMed Google Scholar Crossref

Tai DBG , Shah A , Doubeni CA , Sia IG , Wieland ML . The disproportionate impact of COVID-19 on racial and ethnic minorities in the United States. Clin Infect Dis. 2021;72(4):703-706.PubMed Google Scholar Crossref

1News. Ardern sets COVID-19 target of 90% fully vaccinated to ease restrictions. Published October 22, 2021. Accessed May 11, 2022. https://www.1news.co.nz/2021/10/21/ardern-sets-covid-19-target-of-90-fully-vaccinated-to-ease-restrictions/

Ministry of Health. COVID-19 Vaccine Data. Accessed May 11, 2022. https://www.health.govt.nz/our-work/diseases-and-conditions/covid-19-novel-coronavirus/covid-19-data-and-statistics/covid-19-vaccine-data

Hippisley-Cox J , Coupland CA , Mehta N , et al. Risk prediction of COVID-19 related death and hospital admission in adults after COVID-19 vaccination: national prospective cohort study. BMJ. 2021;374:n2244. doi:10.1136/bmj.n2244 PubMed Google Scholar Crossref

Stats NZ. Final report of the 2018 Census External Data Quality Panel. Accessed May 11, 2022. http://www.stats.govt.nz

AMA CME Accreditation Information

Credit Designation Statement: The American Medical Association designates this Journal-based CME activity activity for a maximum of 1.00  AMA PRA Category 1 Credit(s)™. Physicians should claim only the credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity.

Successful completion of this CME activity, which includes participation in the evaluation component, enables the participant to earn up to:

1.00 Medical Knowledge MOC points in the American Board of Internal Medicine's (ABIM) Maintenance of Certification (MOC) program;;
1.00 Self-Assessment points in the American Board of Otolaryngology – Head and Neck Surgery’s (ABOHNS) Continuing Certification program;
1.00 MOC points in the American Board of Pediatrics’ (ABP) Maintenance of Certification (MOC) program;
1.00 Lifelong Learning points in the American Board of Pathology’s (ABPath) Continuing Certification program; and
1.00 CME points in the American Board of Surgery’s (ABS) Continuing Certification program

It is the CME activity provider's responsibility to submit participant completion information to ACCME for the purpose of granting MOC credit.