Vax Vegas is a new campaign encouraging under 35s to get vaccinated with messages for rangatahi from rangatahi. 

The campaign is bringing together young Māori social media influencers, creatives, celebrities and community leaders to spread accurate information about the Covid-19 jab. 

Murupara's Fabian Anderson, who has more than 53,000 followers on TikTok, is involved. 

Anderson said he wanted to get involved in the Vax Vegas campaign because he was once an anti-vaxxer. 

 Atutahi Potaka-Dewes (left), Fabian Anderson and Kahumako Rāmeka are three rangatahi lending their voices to the Vax Vegas campaign. (Photo / Andrew Warner)

Anderson said he didn't want to "shove the message in people's faces". 

"The more information we tell our rangatahi, the more that they can understand what [the vaccine] is and the process behind it." 

As of 11.59pm on Saturday, November 20, only 59 per cent of Māori who reside in the Lakes District Health Board had been fully vaccinated. 

According to data provided for the board by the Ministry of Health on November 14, only 37 per cent of Māori between the ages of 20 and 34 are fully vaccinated. 

The number is slightly higher for rangatahi aged 12 to 19 who are 42 per cent fully vaccinated. 

Anderson said he started doing more research into the vaccine once he found out his sister was pregnant. 

"The turning point for me was my family. My sister's about to have a baby. 

"That's when I did my research and realised I was already doing worse things for my health than getting the vaccine, like vaping and drinking during the week. 

"Overtaking trucks is more dangerous than getting the jab." 

Anderson said he was happy to jump in front of the camera to make a difference in vaccination rates for young Māori. 

"If someone young like me can protect our older people and our young tamariki then, amen." 

Atutahi Potaka-Dewes is one of the young Māori influencers helping to promote Vax Vegas. (Photo / NZME)

Vax Vegas organiser Haydn Marriner said rangatahi focus groups gave advice on the look and feel of the campaign and also suggested incentives. 

"Vax Vegas includes a concert which will also double as a vaccination event, but the main drawcard are the incentives which include electronics such as the latest iPhones and Airpods, as well as thousands of vouchers to use at our local tourism spots." 

Marriner brought local radio hosts Atutahi Potaka-Dewes and Kahumako Rāmeka on to the project to support Vax Vegas on social media. 

Twenty-nine-year-old musician, haka performer and Miss Rotorua 2020 Potaka-Dewes, said Vax Vegas would give vaccination messages from familiar faces. 

"If rangatahi are going to be encouraged by anybody it would by rangatahi they're familiar with." 

Rāmeka thought vaccination was really important, especially for Rotorua's rangatahi. 

"At the end of the day things are getting really serious out there and we need to start thinking about how we're going to do this together as a hapū, as iwi, as whānau and as rangatahi Māori," the 22-year-old said. 

Potaka-Dewes also wanted to remind young people about the need to get vaccinated to enjoy summer. 

"On the superficial side there's concerts, it's summer," Potaka-Dewes said. 

"You wouldn't want to spend our days in lockdown and isolated in your house so I think it's important because if you want to get out there and enjoy life get vaccinated." 

Rāmeka said she herself had already bought a ticket to One Love and was looking forward to the festival. 

Vax Vegas is being run by Oho Collective, an informal group of Te Arawa communications and marketing professionals with financial support from the $120 million Māori Communities Covid-19 Fund announced by the Government in October. 

The fund aims to directly resource Māori, iwi, community organisations and providers to deliver local vaccination initiatives for whānau, and support Māori and communities to prepare for the new protection framework. 

Oho Collective member Marisa Balle said Vax Vegas wrapped some fun and fomo around a campaign targeting all young Māori who live in Rotorua. 

"The underlying message is to not fear the vaccination but to embrace it, and have some fun along the way." 

Vax Vegas is also working under the umbrella of Te Arawa's Covid-19 response hub and with the support of Rotorua Economic Development. 

Balle said the experience of working together has been uplifting for everyone involved. 

"It's been wonderful to see different entities come together quickly on a common goal."