Reflections: Ethnic Youth Vaccination Day 2021

On 20 November 2021, Authenticity Aotearoa came together with other ethnic youth organisations, National Islamic Youth Association, Multiethnic Young Leaders, Kāhui Tū Kaha, Aotearoa Latin American Community Inc. in Tāmaki Makaurau (Auckland) to run an Ethnic Youth Vaccination Day at the Epsom Vaccination Centre. The event encouraged ethnic youth to get vaccinated and equipped them with the information they needed to make an informed decision. The event was a great success seeing 60 of our community members getting vaccinated.

The event was supported by the Ministry for Ethnic Communities Vaccine Uptake Fund and included a raffle at the event. This was a sweetener on top of the great vibe and people who were already there. The prizes were $250 Westfield Vouchers for community members receiving their second dose and an iPhone 13 mini for those receiving their first.

The event took two weeks to pull together during a lockdown. Young leaders from five organisations formed the core organising team, representing a range of cultural and religious communities with over ten languages spoken between them.

Authenticity Aotearoa, alongside National Islamic Youth Association, Multiethnic Young Leaders, Ministry for Ethnic Communities, Kāhui Tū Kaha, and Aotearoa Latin American Community Inc., combined our efforts to achieve this excellent outcome for our community.

This event highlights our ability to work together with other ethnic youth leaders to achieve a common goal. We learnt from each other, broke down silos, and were able to cater to the needs of our multi-ethnic communities.

We would like to thank all those who came to get vaccinated and our volunteers; the day would not have succeeded without them. We actively seeking to be a part of more collaborative ethnic youth-driven events in the future. If you are interested in creating collaborative efforts with multi-ethnic youth, please get in touch with us at hello@authenticity.org.nz.