Meet the delightful Māori Warden boosting the city's Covid-19 vaccine rollout

September 10, 2021

Bobbi-Jo’s a colourful character, bringing smiles to many at Auckland Airport’s drive thru vaccination centre.

We can all agree that Covid-19 is a nasty enemy, but it's also introduced us to some delightful characters.

One of them is Bobbi-Jo, also known as Aunty, who works on the frontlines at Auckland Airport’s sprawling ‘vax and ride’.

Seven Sharp caught up with the Māori Warden ahead of a mass vaccination event at the Park and Ride this weekend.

"All of these people are coming to get vaccinated, darling, and it's protecting our future - that's what it's all about,” she said.

Bobbi-Jo is part of a dedicated team of 150, all with their role to play, looking to crack 5000 jabs a day or more.

The vaccination rate has been sitting at around 4000 a day for the past few weeks.

"I feel like one of those New York police officers in the middle of the street - stop, go, you know?" she said.

"She's real. Irreplaceable, to be quite honest,” one colleague said.

"Fabulous - absolutely fabulous," another added.

Her father and fellow Māori Warden, Nick Wright, says she “just loves people”.

"She's got a lot of love in her body, comes from her nana. Her nana brought her up well,” he said.

"My mother gave me life but my grandmother showed me life,” she added.

"I know she is up there watching over us, making sure we all do the right thing. This is the right thing. She would be sitting on her couch telling me, ‘Have you been vaccinated yet?’”

“I tell her, ‘Yes, I have, nan. I've had both shots’."

Bobbi-Jo said her attitude towards getting vaccinated was about needing to "jump on the waka so everybody needs to jump on that as well".

"Paddle that waka all the way. Smooth sailing from here on out, people. Smooth sailing."

The mass vaccination event runs through to late Sunday afternoon.

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