Māori and Pacific people up to 3 times more likely to get severe Covid-19 illness

Embargoed until: Publicly released: 2021-07-09 00:01

New Zealand

Māori and Pacific people are at much higher risk than other ethnic groups of being hospitalised with COVID-19, according to a new analysis of New Zealand’s main outbreaks in 2020. Putting aside age and other health conditions, Māori are 2.5 times - and Pacific people 3 times - more likely to be hospitalised than non-Māori non-Pacific people. The authors say a 59-year-old Māori person, or a 55-year-old Pacific person, on average face the same risk of being hospitalised with COVID-19 as an 80-year-old NZ European person. These findings should inform decisions on vaccine priorities, say the researchers.

Media release

From: New Zealand Medical Association (NZMA)

Māori and Pacific people in New Zealand have higher risk of hospitalisation for COVID-19

Key Points

Structural inequities and systemic racism in the healthcare system mean that Māori and Pacific communities face a much greater health burden from COVID-19.
A statistical analysis of the outcomes of the COVID-19 epidemic in New Zealand up to September 2020 demonstrates significant inequity in the impact of this disease.
After controlling for age and pre-existing conditions, we found that Māori have 2.5 (95% CI 1.39–4.51) times greater odds of hospitalisation given infection, and Pacific 3 (95% CI 1.75–5.33) times greater odds, than non-Māori non-Pacific people.
These results suggest that, on average, a 59-year-old Māori person, or a 55-year-old Pacific person, face the same risk of hospitalisation as an 80-year-old NZ European person.
Additionally, other risk factors may mean that Māori and Pacific communities face greater risk of infection, compounding the inequity in disease burden."

Summary

We use data on cases of COVID-19 in Aotearoa New Zealand up to September 2020 to estimate the risk of hospitalisation for different age and ethnicity groups. After controlling for age and pre-existing conditions, we find that Māori and Pacific people face significantly higher risk of hospitalisation with COVID-19. Our work focuses on the likelihood of hospitalisation given infection, but other risk factors may mean that Māori and Pacific communities also face greater risk of infection.

Journal/
conference: New Zealand Medical Journal

Organisation/s: University of Auckland, Manaaki Whenua - Landcare Research, University of Canterbury

Funder: This work was funded by the New Zealand Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment and Te Pūnaha Matatini, Centre of Research Excellence in Complex Systems. Andrew Sporle is also funded by Health Research Council Project Grant 20/1018.

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