And National Leader would like to ‘wait, watch and then comment’
Russell Palmer
Wellington, December 14, 2021
It will still be “Flyer Beware” in light of Omicron for people hoping to travel overseas from January as the border begins reopening, the Covid-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins said.
The government announced its Four-Step Plan in August 2021 to reopen international borders, and last month gave details about timeframes and other decisions around MIQ:
January 17, 2022: Fully vaccinated New Zealanders and other eligible travellers can travel to New Zealand from Australia without staying in MIQ.
February 14, 2022: Fully vaccinated New Zealanders and other eligible travellers can travel to New Zealand from all other countries.
April 30, 2022: Fully vaccinated foreign travellers can travel to New Zealand.
Decision to be reviewed
However, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said during her post-Cabinet briefing on December 13, 2021 that ministers will meet to discuss the Omicron variant next year, ahead of the first stage. The meeting is likely to be held during the first week of January.
This morning she said that was expected to be in the first week of January.
“We have reconnection plans that we have not changed. What we have said is that before that step-change occurs, we will make sure that we look at what is the latest with Omicron. We want to make sure that we have got the latest evidence, we do not have a lot (of evidence) right now,” she said.
She said it was a necessary step for the government considering the risk Omicron could pose.
“The UK is predicting Omicron to become a dominant variant in very short order and already reporting hospitalisations. We need to see what kind of severity and impact the vaccine. We have not changed any of our plans to date, but I think that it would be irresponsible of us not to at least look at the latest evidence around Omicron before finalising some of those plans,” Ms Ardern said.
National Party slams move
National Party leader Christopher Luxon argued that the timeframes were still too slow.
“We think that if you are double vaxxed and you have got a negative test, Kiwis should be able to come home for Christmas. The Prime Minister is obviously trying to walk back some remarks a little bit and put a little bit of uncertainty there, but we think it is really important,” he said.
Mr Luxon said that his Party’s view has been clear- that New Zealand has had a situation where we can manage high, low, medium-risk countries.
“And we said in our opening up plan that Chris Bishop launched some months ago that when we got to 85% plus that was a place in which we could start to manage that risk and manage that risk intelligently. We do not want to be reckless here, what we are trying to do is be intelligent about how we go about it. I thought that plan was straightforward,” he said.
The Omicron Risk
However, Mr Luxon’s views matched those of Ms Arden on the risks posed by Omicron and whether Red-Zone flights should be set up to get people home and find some means of isolation for them.
“To be honest … I would want to really understand that issue more. I want to see the impacts of Omicron, monitor that closely and then work it out closer to the time,” he said.
He agreed that Omicron presented situations that should be monitored.
“We need to understand very much, you know, the transmissibility of it. We need to understand the severity of it, the effectiveness of vaccines, but that is a monitoring situation which we need to continue to do. But fundamentally, we also cannot jump at shadows unnecessarily either,” Mr Luxon said.
He said that he had not been in direct contact with Air New Zealand since he left, but from his experience, uncertainty makes it very difficult for logistical planning.
“We have to find out exactly what the Prime Minister is saying when she is talking about that. For now, I think that our position is clear,” he said.
Minister’s warning
Covid-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins said that the government was very committed to the January 17, 2022 date but had warned that a vaccine-resistant variant could prompt a rethink.
“I still think that it is looking very likely to proceed. It is a very high bar but we cannot discount the possibility that Omicron could prove to be a spanner in the works but at this point, we are still full steam ahead with preparations for that reopening from January 2022 and then from February, he said.
Mr Hipkins said that little was known about Omicron and the government needed more time.
“We do want to get to the point where movement across the border is reasonably free but we are trying to provide as much certainty as we can in an environment that is very uncertain. It does appear to be much more transmissible and therefore more highly infectious. But reports about the overall effect of that are still very mixed as to whether or not people get more sick or less sick,” he said.
“There is also a suggestion that vaccinated people and those who have previously had Covid-19 are more likely to get it than with other variants,” he added and advised people travelling to ‘think carefully’ before they do.
“When we opened the Trans-Tasman bubble we did so on the basis of ‘Flyer Beware’ and I think that any changes in the New Year will be on that basis. It is still a very uncertain world while we deal with a global pandemic,” he said.
Russell Palmer is Digital Political Journalist at Radio New Zealand. The above article and pictures have been published under a Special Agreement with www.rnz.co.nz
