New Zealand’s COVID-19 death toll is not equal: poorer people, Māori and Pacific, those with underlying health conditions, unvaccinated and older Kiwis have a much higher risk of dying from the virus.
The findings have been published in an analysis of deaths attributed to Covid-19 by the Public Health Agency on Friday.
To date, more than 2000 people in Aotearoa died of Covid-19: either as a direct or contributing cause.
The analysis examined 1,797 Covid-19 deaths between January 1 and August 26, which were attributed to Covid-19 – that is, where Covid-19 was determined to be linked to the cause of death.
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This amounted to 34 for every 100,000 Kiwis who died from Covid-19 during this period.
The analysis — which excluded people who died with, but not because of, Covid — included 1458 people of European or ‘other’ ethnicity, 158 Māori, 111 people from the Pacific and 60 Asian people.
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Age the greatest risk
It found that the strongest risk factor for death from Covid-19 was age: the older you are, the greater your risk.
Risk higher for Māori and Pasifika
Mortality risk was also strongly associated with ethnicity: Māori and Pacific peoples had more than twice the risk of death of European and “Other” groups (2 and 2.5 times, respectively).
This was more pronounced for among the 60-year-olds: with the risk of death 3.7 and 2.9 times higher for Maori and Pacific peoples, respectively.
Looking at the whole population, the risk for Māori seems lower than for the rest of the population: a total of 158 deaths or a risk of 19.7 per 100,000. This compares with a risk of 44.3 per 100,000 for European/Other.
But when you compare this within age groups, the risk for Māori (who, along with peoples in the Pacific, generally form a younger population) was higher.
Among those aged 70 to 79, there were 43 deaths (a risk of 170.3 per 100,000 people) among Māori and 264 (82.2 per 100,000) among “European/other”.
In persons under the age of 60, this risk was 3.4 per 100,000 Maori and 1.5 per 100,000 Pākehā/Other.
Unsplash
Deprivation explained half of the increased risk to Māori and nearly two-thirds of the increased risk to peoples in the Pacific, the report said. (File photo)
Poorer people are more likely to die
Deprivation also played a factor: The most needy 20% of New Zealanders had three times the risk of dying from Covid-19 compared to the least needy 20%, it found.
During the eight-month period, 429 deaths attributed to Covid fell among the most disadvantaged group, compared to 153 in the most affluent 20%.
Having one or more pre-existing health conditions was also a significant risk factor – associated with a 6.3 higher risk of death from Covid-19 compared to someone with no underlying conditions.
This was especially true for people under the age of 60: of the 78 people under the age of 60 who died from Covid-19 during this period, 72 (92%) had a pre-existing health condition.
In young Māori and Pacific peoples, more than half of their additional risk was due to having an underlying condition, compared to “European/other”.
Vaccination made the difference
Vaccination made a substantial difference between all ethnicities, the analysis found.
Having two or more doses of a Covid-19 vaccine reduced the risk of death by 62%, compared to less than two doses.
The effect of a third/booster dose will be addressed in a future report.
Deputy Director General of the Public Health Agency, Dr. Andrew Old, said the burden of Covid-19 had “fallen unevenly”.
Some undue risk to Māori and the Pacific can be explained by higher rates of socio-economic deprivation, pre-existing conditions and lower vaccinationsaid Old.
Experts have been alarm bells are ringing about these inequalities since the start of the pandemicand the iwi and Pasifika groups did tests and vaccination efforts in their own hands.
ROBERT KITCHEN/Things
Deputy Director General of Health, Dr. Andrew Old, said officials “remain committed to ensuring” that those most at risk of death from Covid-19 are prioritized in the country’s response.
Inequality in vaccination alone accounted for about a quarter of the additional risk for Māori and Pacific peoples.
However, the analysis found that Māori and Pasifika were still at “significantly higher” risk of death from Covid-19.
“Unfortunately, this reflects broader, long-standing health inequalities for Māori and the Pacific, with poorer access to health care and poorer outcomes for many measures,” Old said.