New Zealand will remove vaccine mandates for some of the workforce in April in a major change to the country's strict Covid-19 restrictions.
The prime minister announced the changes on Wednesday morning, citing high vaccination rates and better data to identify which environments are high risk, and modelling that suggests the country's Omicron outbreak would peak in April.
The country reported 20,087 new cases on Wednesday, 960 people in hospital and 11 deaths, bringing the total number of Covid-19 deaths to over 200. New Zealand has recorded more than 500,000 cases of Covid-19, but modellers think the true figure could be as high as 1.7 million. The rest of the country is expected to reach its peak by April, with modelling suggesting that Auckland has reached its peak.
When we come off the peak, we will be able to ease the use of things like vaccine passes and mandates.
The changes include removing requirements for people to use the Covid-19 tracer app when entering businesses and scrapping all gathering limits in outdoor settings. Venues can increase their indoor gathering limit from 100 to 200 on Friday.
From 4 April, vaccine passes will no longer be needed to get into shops and venues, and vaccine mandates will be dropped for workers in education, police and the defence force. Those working in health, corrections, aged care, and at the border need to be protected from vaccine-related diseases.
After the Delta outbreak that led to a three-month lockdown in Auckland, it became clear that mandates were needed to boost vaccine levels.
She said that one of the reasons New Zealand achieved a 95 percent vaccine rate for eligible population was because of the mandates.
Today's decision to loosen the mandates was not because of a weeks-long protest outside parliament, but because it was safe to do so.
The traffic-light system will remain in place, but it will be flexible to change if there is a new variant of the virus. She said that mask-use will keep vulnerable communities safe.
This is not the end, but it is a new beginning.
Covid is still with us and it will be for some time to come, that is why we are keeping in place our Covid protection framework.
The country of New Zealand has come a long way since the first tough restrictions were imposed, including the closing of the border.
The defences were always meant to be temporary. New Zealand is known for its successful response to Covid.
We have been successful but it has also been very hard. Everyone has had to give up something. Some more than others.
While vaccine passes made sense with Delta, Omicron has changed the game, according to leading health professionals and modellers.
The effectiveness ofVaccines at preventing severe illness is still very high, but they are less effective at stopping people from catching and spreading the virus.
We now have increasing levels of immunity in the population. Allowing unvaccinated people into places like cafes and bars doesn't change the risk of catching Covid there.
The journey down the mountain will be difficult as many people will be infectious on the way up. Keeping mask rules is important.
The University of Otago's Dr Dianne Sika-Paotonu said that there is still a need for care and caution for vulnerable communities.
All Rights Reserved © 2024
