WELLINGTON: New Zealand plans to allow quarantine-free entry to vaccinated travellers from low-risk countries from early 2022, as it looks to open its borders again after nearly 18 months of pandemic-induced isolation.<\/p>\n
Tight border controls and its geographic advantage helped New Zealand stamp out COVID-19 much faster than almost all other countries, but this left the Pacific island nation of 5 million almost entirely cut off from the rest of the world.<\/p>\n
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said on Thursday that the country is still not ready to open up entirely, but will open in phases from early next year.<\/p>\n
“We\u2019re simply not in a position to fully reopen just yet,” the 41-year-old leader said in a speech outlining plans to reconnect New Zealand with the world.<\/p>\n
“When we move we will be careful and deliberate, because we want to move with confidence and with as much certainty as possible,” she said.<\/p>\n
Ardern said the government will look at opening quarantine-free travel to vaccinated travellers from low-risk countries from the first quarter of next year.<\/p>\n
Those travelling from medium-risk countries will undertake self-isolation or a shorter stay at a quarantine hotel. Those coming from high-risk countries or are unvaccinated will still have to spend 14 days in quarantine.<\/p>\n
Some vaccinated travellers will be able to participate in a pilot from October through December this year, wherein they can travel and self-isolate at home.<\/p>\n
Ardern has won global plaudits for containing local transmission of COVID-19 through a strict elimination strategy. The country has recorded just 2,500 cases and 26 deaths.<\/p>\n
But pressure has been mounting to reopen borders as private businesses and the public sector grapples with worker shortages and reduced incomes.<\/p>\n
Despite the phased reopening, the government will stay on its elimination strategy to maintain its hard won gains as one of the few virus-free countries, Ardern said.<\/p>\n
“That is not to say that the settings we have today, will be the settings we have forever. Nobody wants that,” she said.<\/p>\n
Ardern said the country will also speed up its vaccination rollout with all eligible ages able to book their vaccine by Sept. 1 and also move to a six-week gap between doses to ensure more New Zealanders are at least partially vaccinated.<\/p>\n
New Zealand’s vaccination process has been slower than most other peers, with just over 21% of the population fully vaccinated so far.<\/p>\n
Critics slammed delayed vaccination and said the government will have to move faster to protect people before opening borders.<\/p>\n
“While vaccination numbers are finally rising, we are still the slowest in the OECD and 120th in the world,” said opposition National Party leader Judith Collins.<\/p>\n
“This is not the \u2018front of the queue\u2019 we were promised and is simply not good enough considering the heightened risk from new variants.”<\/p>\n
Delta-fuelled outbreaks across Australia led Ardern to last month suspend the so-called “travel bubble” that allowed quarantine-free travel between the two countries.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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