Mon 11 October 2021:
To combat the spread of Covid-19, New Zealand issued a sweeping “no jab, no job” policy for most healthcare personnel and teachers on Monday.
On Monday afternoon, prime minister Jacinda Ardern announced the government would be delaying the reopening of schools, and Auckland would maintain its current level of restrictions for another week as they waited for vaccination levels to rise.
“This is a tricky period in our Covid response. I understand why people will ask for and want more certainty than we can provide right now,” Ardern said. “That’s because we are in new territory, but our goal remains the same, even if the approach to achieving it changes.”
“We have a pathway forward,” she said. “We remain in a very strong position to make the transition from lockdown restrictions to the individual armour of vaccines while maintaining our world leading position on case numbers, hospitalisations and deaths.”
Ardern also announced that the government was creating vaccine mandates for teachers and frontline health workers. All those working in schools who have contact with children will have to be vaccinated, as well as all those in high-risk health and disability health workforces.
“We can’t leave anything to chance so that’s why we are making it mandatory,” said Covid-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins, who is also the education minister.
Doctors, nurses, and other frontline health workers must be double-jabbed by December 1, and everyone working in education who has contact with students must be double-jabbed by January 1.
President Samantha Murton of the Royal New Zealand College of General Practitioners supports obligatory vaccinations, calling it a “bold, but necessary call.”
New Zealand had received widespread praise for its Covid elimination policy, which had mostly shielded the country from the pandemic before the emergence of the Delta form in August.
Residents were able to live a somewhat regular domestic life despite severe international border controls.
Secondary schools will be required to keep a record of their pupils’ vaccination status.
“Vaccination remains our strongest and most effective tool to protect against infection and disease,” Hipkins said.
The decision covers home-based instructors as well as parents who volunteer in schools, but no decision has been made on whether vaccination will be required in tertiary education.
When Delta was detected in Auckland, New Zealand’s most populated region, the “Covid Zero” policy fell apart, and the virus has now spread to the neighbouring Northland and Waikato provinces.
(with agencies)
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