Wellington, February 4, 2022
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has said that the government decided to reopen borders and welcome people from overseas, connecting the move with a majority of New Zealanders getting the Covid-19 booster.
Speaking to the media following the opening of a new Vaccination Centre at The Cloud in Auckland’s Central Business District on Friday, February 4, 2022, she said that ‘New Zealand is in demand and that businesses should benefit from the emerging opportunities.
She was accompanied by Covid-Response Minister Chris Hipkins, Corrections Minister Kelvin Davis and Maori Development Minister Willie Jackson.
Determining factors
“We took into consideration several factors including the level of vaccinations and the time of the year. The government wants to make sure that New Zealand continues to be an attractive place to come – including for tourists – because of the management of Covid-19. It is a constant effort to strike a balance and I think that we have got it right,” she said.
Dr Ian Town, leader of the Clinical Advisory Team on Vaccinations, had said earlier in the week that there was not enough data to show conclusively whether the effects of booster doses wane in the same way as the two doses of vaccination.
Ms Ardern said that perhaps there has not been a high level of uptake with boosters until Omicron starts to spread in the community.
“People should not wait for their booster shot,” she said.
With a larger number of Omicron cases expected, MIQ may not have the capacity to people arriving from overseas as experienced earlier, she said.
Home isolation has been introduced as a suitable alternative, she said.
Criteria to move from Red
“The criteria for moving out of the current Red Setting under the Traffic Lights System is safety. We want to know that we are managing Covid within New Zealand in such a way that it is not placing extra pressure on our health system, that we are not seeing the severe impact on our vulnerable communities. We are constantly monitoring the system,” she said.
Defending the Red Setting as Omicron entered New Zealand, Ms Ardern said that the government will keep an eye on the settings in future to see whether it is safe to move.
New Zealand is in a good position compared to many other countries because of various factors, including moving early with health measures and high vaccination.
“The Jury is still out because not many countries have managed to slow it down but we will continue to make decisions that ensure that New Zealanders get the healthcare they need when they need it,” she said.
Ms Ardern is visiting various places around Auckland after confirming the opening of borders in five stages. Please read that story here.
Booster to support self-isolation
The government had announced earlier that the interval between second and booster doses of the Covid-19 vaccine would be reduced from four months to three months.
That would allow an extra million people to get booster vaccinations this weekend, and vaccination clinics are planning for a large influx.
It would bring the total number of eligible people aged over 18 to more than three million, in the hope that it would curb the spread of Omicron as New Zealanders start to return from the end of February and skip MIQ and go home to self-isolate.
-Published under a Special Agreement with www.rnz.co.nz
