WELLINGTON – New Zealand today announced a sweeping “no jab, no job” policy for most healthcare workers and teachers to prevent the spread of the coronavirus.
“We can’t leave anything to chance, so that’s why we are making it mandatory,” said Covid-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins, who also holds the education portfolio.
Doctors, nurses and other front-line health workers must be double-jabbed by December 1, while everyone working in the education sector who has contact with students must have their two doses by January 1 next year.
The Royal New Zealand College of General Practitioners backed mandatory vaccination, with president Samantha Murton describing it as a “bold, but necessary call” to make.
Secondary schools will also be required to keep a register showing students’ inoculation status.
“Vaccination remains our strongest and most effective tool to protect against infection and disease,” said Hipkins.
The order includes home-based educators and parents volunteering at schools, but no decision has been made on whether vaccination will be mandatory in the tertiary education sector.
Before the arrival of the Delta variant in August, New Zealand had won widespread praise for its Covid-19 elimination policy that largely protected the country.
Residents enjoyed a near-normal domestic life alongside tight restrictions on international borders.
However, the “Covid zero” strategy fell apart when Delta was detected in Auckland, the country’s most populated region, and it has since spread to the surrounding Northland and Waikato provinces.
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said the highly transmissible variant has proven to be a “game changer” that cannot be eliminated. – AFP, October 11, 2021
