Unusual bedfellows: how gangs are pushing New Zealand’s Covid vaccination drive

Cabinet ministers have been meeting with gang leaders as the country targets an ambitious vaccination rate

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After the needle entered his right arm, the man raised his left fist in a brief salute. Surgical mask covering parts of his facial tattoos, he nodded to the nurse. A long ponytail cut a line through the blue and white letters covering his back: a patch, signifying membership of one of New Zealand's largest and most infamous street gangs. Mark Pitman, leader of Black Power New Zealand, was getting vaccinated on national television.

I want to do it and I want the rest of our organisation around the country to know I've got it done," Pitman told the camera. I'm a leader. And I lead from example."