Abstract
Differences in COVID-19 vaccination roll-out between rural and urban areas of Aotearoa New Zealand (NZ) have not been well examined. Internationally, COVID-19 vaccination rates in rural areas typically lagged urban or metropolitan regions. This paper outlines the development of a “web-app” using the R-Shiny framework as an approach for synthesising and visualising COVID-19 vaccination rates with a key focus on geographic variation. The primary aim of the app, developed as part of a broader Ministry of Health funded mixed-methods study, is to describe the development of a web app and demonstrate the use of the app to highlight the geographic variation in COVID-19 vaccination rates between and within regions and communities.
Vaccination data were obtained from NZ’s COVID-19 immunisation register, with the Health Service User (HSU) 2021 dataset defining the population. Vaccination rates were calculated for 15 fortnights between 1 June and 31 December 2021. This was a period of intense vaccination activity with all people aged 12 and over eligible by the end of the study. The app includes national level summary statistics of the percentage of people that received their second COVID-19 vaccination. An interactive choropleth map shows the change in vaccination rates for each of the Statistical Area 2 regions (SA2) in NZ. This map allows zooming and scrolling, enabling users to consider national, regional, or local perspectives of the changes in vaccination rates over time. Finally, a second interactive map was created that lets users select and aggregate regions of interest using SA2s. Data throughout the app can be grouped and filtered by rurality (categorised by the Geographic Classification for Health), ethnicity, District Health Board and age-group.
The data and maps within the web app assisted selection of four case-study sites and in themselves, provided an important resource for researchers, policy makers and vaccination providers, to examine the geographical variation, including rural-urban differences, in the NZ COVID-19 vaccination roll-out. The development of this web-app builds on the work to develop other tools to visualise geographic variation of health data.
Kāore anō te horapa ā-motu o te tuku āraimate KOWHEORI-19 i waenga i ngā wāhi taiwhenua me ngā wāhi tāone i Aotearoa kia āta mātaitia. Puta noa i te ao, ko te tikanga akutō ai ngā pāpātanga tuku āraimate KOWHEORI-19 i ngā wāhi taiwhenua i ērā i ngā takiwā tāone, tāonenui rānei. Ko tā te pepa nei he whakarāpopoto i te whakawhanake i tētahi taupānga e whakamahi ana i te anga R-Shiny hei huarahi whakahiato me te whakapohewa i ngā pāpātanga tuku āraimate me te aro matua ki te taurangitanga matawhenua. Ko te tino whāinga o tēnei pepa, he mea whakawhanake hei wāhanga o tētahi rangahau tikanga hanumi e utua ana e Te Manatū Hauora, ko te whakaahua i te whakawhanaketanga o tētahi taupānga hei miramira i te taurangitanga matawhenua i ngā pāpātanga tuku āraimate KOWHEORI-19 i waenga, i roto hoki, i ngā rohe me ngā hapori.
I riro ngā raraunga tuku āraimate i te Rēhita Ārainga Mate KOWHEORI19, me te huinga raraunga Kaiwhakamahi Ratonga Hauora (HSU) 2021 e tautuhi ana i te taupori. I tātaihia ngā pāpātanga tuku āraimate mō ngā rua wiki 15 i waenga i 1 Hune me te 31 o Tīhema 2021. He wā tino toritori tērā mō ngā mahi tuku āraimate e māraurau ai ngā tāngata katoa neke atu i te 12 tau te pakeke i te mutunga o te rangahau. Kei roto i te taupānga ngā tauanga whakarāpopoto ā-motu mō te ōrau o ngā tāngata i whiwhi i tō rātou tuku āraimate tuarua. E whakaatu ana i tētahi mahere ā-kaupapa pāhekoheko i te rerekētanga o ngā pāpātanga tuku āraimate mō tēnā, mō tēnā o ngā rohe 2 (SA2) takiwā tauanga i Aotearoa. Ka tuku te mahere nei kia topa te tangata me te panuku, me te aha ka āhei te kaiwhakamahi te kite i ngā tirohanga ā-motu, ā-rohe, ā-takiwā mō ngā rerekētanga ki ngā pāpātanga tuku āraimate i roto i te wā. Hei whakamutunga, i hangaia he mahere pāhekoheko tuarua e āhei ai te kaiwhakamahi te tīpako me te whakahiato rohe e arohia ai mā te whakamahi i ngā SA2. Ka taea te whakarōpū me te tātari i ngā raraunga puta noa i te taupānga mā ngā pahekotanga ā-taiwhenua (he mea whakarōpū nā te Kāwaitanga Matawhenua mō te Hauora), ā-mātāwaka, ā-poari hauora ā-rohe, ātaipakeke hoki.
I āwhina ngā raraunga me ngā mahere i roto i te taupānga tukutuku ki te tīpako i ngā pae mātai take e whā, tērā i whakarato i te rauemi hira mā ngā kairangahau, ngā kaihanga kaupapahere me ngā kaiwhakahaere tuku āraimate ki te ārohi i te taurangitanga matawhenua, taea noatia ngā rerekētanga taiwhenua-tāone, i te horapatanga o te tuku āraimate KOWHEORI-19 i Aotearoa. E ahu mai ana te whakawhanaketanga o tēnei taupānga tukutuku i ngā mahi i mahia hei whakawhanake i ētahi atu utauta ki te whakakite i te rerekētanga matawhenua o ngā raraunga hauora.