Published Tuesday 26 Oct 2021

Ngapera Parata, 18, is in her final year at Kāpiti College, and didn't believe she needed to be vaccinated until the recent Delta outbreak put the country into lockdown.

It was her older brother who convinced her of the importance of vaccination, and she was now using a similar tactic in her role as a youth champion working with Māori provider Hora Te Pai.

"Telling our young people that they're important and they matter and they do have a voice is really important, because we feel like at times we don't even matter and nobody cares about us.”

Parata found most young people she knew were getting their news from social media platforms such as Instagram and TikTok, or from word of mouth.

"As much as you'd like to go 'who the heck told you that?' ... at the same time you can't really blame them because there's no one providing the correct information.

"It's a lot of talking and swaying, it does get tiring at times - you feel like you're never going to get this person to change their mind."

Read more about Ngapera in the NZ Herald.

Photo: Ngapera Parata at Whakarongotai Marae in Kāpiti. Credit: NZ Herald/Mark Mitchell