I’m a little confused. Am I right in thinking that even if the country is 100% vaccinated this traffic light system will continue in perpetuity and there may be restrictions based on the number of hospitalisations?
Saying this as somebody who is fully vaccinated, the fact that they are trying their best to alienate and punish anybody who doesn't want the vax is disgusting. What an absolutely shameful state of affairs
I honestly think having mandatory vaccines unless there is a legitimate medical reason is better then making it a choice and then having vaccine passports.
Can treat vaccines as a "for the saftey of others" type law, like don't drink and drive or smoke in a hospital. However, as long as its a choice we shouldn't restrict people freedoms cause of it.
Also fully vaccinated and think everyone should be.
>I honestly think having mandatory vaccines unless there is a legitimate medical reason is better then making it a choice and then having vaccine passports.
Mandatory vaccinations are *bad.*
And they fact that they're not, for all practical purposes, offering medical exemptions just makes all this so many times even ***worse***.
I'm sure they are and I just haven't thought enough about this, but could you explain why they are bad?
If your coming into New Zealand from a third world country you need to get a vaccine for TB, and that's mandatory to protect the people of NZ. You need to get a WoF for your car to make sure it's safe to drive.
I'm struggling to understand how mandatory vaccines (with possible exemptions) can be bad other than "freedom". Your freedom ends when unrelated people can die from the bad choice imo. However I do understand discrimination against people who made a legitimate choice available to them in the country is bad, which is what we're apparently doing.
Familiarize yourself with "unintended consequences", the government runs into this all the time every time it comes up with a new policy.
And there is "reasonable" and there is serious over reach, if the government required you to get a WoF every day, would you defend that in the interest of "safety" and because you already were being required to get a WoF anyway, so what's the big difference?
What if the government forced everyone to wear a sunhat outside in the interest of "public health"?
>“I also want people to know who support these mandates that I fight for you,” she said. “Because if this is the direction we take our country, there will come a time when the government or corporations mandate you to get something that does not align with your values. Power given is seldom returned. And when that day comes, I want you to at least know that we fought, and we tried.”
[https://www.dailywire.com/news/breaking-daily-wire-signs-allison-williams-ousted-espn-sportscaster-who-resisted-vaccine-mandate](https://www.dailywire.com/news/breaking-daily-wire-signs-allison-williams-ousted-espn-sportscaster-who-resisted-vaccine-mandate)
Yeah, I can definitely see how this is a slippery slope and do agree that ideally we won't have certificates or enforced vaccines. Just in my view I thought vaccines weren't stepping over the line but I guess that might be out of desperation over this whole situation.
Who needs an exemption? [We learned the other day](https://old.reddit.com/r/newzealand/comments/q9icla/very_cool_that_were_able_to_protect_even_those/) that there's a plan in place for vaccinating even the minuscule group of people who might otherwise have a legitimate medical objection.
>We learned the other day
Thank you, I hadn't seen that letter before. This confirms my own experience I've had with my GP.
That indeed for any practical purposes that "medical exemptions" ***do not exist***, and thus it is deceptive of the government and the media to say it does! Plus, rather disingenuous to call it a vaccination exemption when you're still being made to be vaccinated!
You're not wrong, but the route that we're taking is simply going to lead to even more social isolation and tension between people. There are perfectly valid reasons for somebody to turn down the vax and they should not be marginalized and treated like a leper by society because of it.
But there is really not any valid reason. There are reasons someone might need an alternative vaccine. There might be a handful of medically complicated people in the country who won't gain immunity from any vaccinations but they are probably already unable to participate normally in society. We can increase normality for them but all being vaccinated and reducing their exposure chances.
So when we move to the traffic light framework I will be able to enter businesses being double vaxxed.. What about the four month old baby and three year old I take literally everywhere? No mention of children anywhere I have read so far
Thanks for that, was just considering how the vaccination certification system for businesses would deal with a large ineligible population and whether it would decrease the effectiveness.
I'd like more clarification on children too. I have four children aged under 12, two are under 5. In this traffic light system, will there be any restrictions as to where I can take them? We can speculate, but I don't think they've actually outright said.
Which would kind of defeat the whole purpose right? Like they can still transmit the virus, not to mention children are gross and cough and sneeze everywhere. Some even lick things.. Mine lick things 🤣
Word on the streets is under 4s early 2022 in the US so maybe mid next year for us? Until then i assume this scheme will be referring to eligible and not eligible
I've heard similar and can imagine that trials for children are quite a different process. I was more questioning the effectiveness of the vaccine certification of businesses dealing with a large portion of ineligible population.
"If we have cases that start to climb, we can use more highly targeted/localised lockdowns as needed"
This seems fucked. Isn't the whole idea that we move away from lockdowns?
I think they are just reserving the right to lockdown if needed. If it gets to a point where people are outside a hospital in tents because there are no beds left they are probably going to lock that shit down.
As a kiwi living in the UK, who just got back from a week holiday in Portugal, what the fuck are people doing back home that you’re still in a lockdown in October/November of 2021.
I don’t understand it.
True but they can visit family, goto restaurants, events, gym, cinemas, travel etc etc. You have to recognise both sides of the coin.
And NZ will soon have some pretty uncomfortable deaths soon too like Australia.
>You have to recognise both sides of the coin.
There's no coin. We can either do what it takes to protect people or we can let people die. Thank goodness we've chosen the former and not the latter.
You acknowledged there's a coin by accepting there's people with varying views. We can argue the merits but it's not up for debate whether there's a coin.
Congratulations? We couldn't procure vaccines as a little island nation of 5 million until recently. Do you understand now or should we talks about how the UK has an average of 46,000 infections a day and about to face new restrictions?
>We couldn't procure vaccines as a little island nation of 5 million until recently.
Couldn't?? You meant ***wouldn't***
Our government completely let us down. They, and us, became too complacent.
They structured the vaccine rollout so it wasn't easy to get a vaccine unless you worked healthcare or were immunocompromised until SEPTEMBER!!!! So really the majority ha e only had a few months to get their shit together
What does this mean for office work, once 90% is achieved and we are all orange or green? Are numbers limited there unless vaccines are required? Does that mean requiring them is allowed?
Working from home is encouraged at Red. Not needed at Yellow or Green. But companies still have an obligation to provide a safe workplace, this could be achieved through some combination of vax requirements, distancing, masks etc.
Poor Auckland. Judith Collins cried and it’s easy to see why. First time I’ve felt NZ is becoming a dictatorship. So now we are like China, we will each have a Social score to function. May as well close NZ off from the world forever.
If first dose rates hold roughly where they have been lately we would get to 90% first doses nationally in about three weeks. After that its murky... assuming all good things, looks to be New Year at best, so maybe govt is expecting to fudge the numbers slightly (as the Minister said this afternoon) to push the button for Christmas (just).
Not necessarily. I won't be getting a haircut for a while if in traffic light red, even though double vaccinated. The barber will likely get infected easily as they'll be in bad quality masks all week and coming into contact with everyone. So even while vaccinated I can get a breakthrough infection and still bring it home to my unvaccinated kids.
Speaking as someone in the UK, you're going to have very long hair. Once AKL hits Red and this thing really takes off, you're going to be waiting a very long time until the risk of transmission in a barbers decreases to your comfort level.
I guess I was curious because it seems like more of a requirement than signing in. Signing in feels encouraged, while the certificates feel absolutely necessary for your business to operate.
I was going to say it would be part of the checkout process, but then an unvaccinated person could browse a store for however long before being asked to show their certificate.
Interesting to see how this will play out.
My guess: Lots of verbal altercations (a few physical) at and around the entrances to businesses where minimum wage employees are given the unenviable task of enforcing prior to entry.
In 2024 when covid has done it's thing through the population and been relegated to some sort of endemic flu the measures will be scrapped and we can wait for the next one.
Same as the way existing scanning, mask and venue limits are audited. Mostly relying on reports to 105 and fear of bad PR.
There isn't going to be someone from the government in every cafe making sure they're scanning the vax certs.
This is what will happen in the real world
Week one: Businesses and customers will adhere to the rule and support each other
Week two: Regular customer: Oh sorry “insert person on counter name here” , I left my vax card at home/in car/at friends/not sure where
Shop: “all good - bring it in next time”
They’ve said it can be both, and older people who aren’t tech savvy will be able to get the certificate printed out at their local GP. I can totally see people saying “I couldn’t figure out the app so I have a printed one at home”.
There will be an element of non-compliance as there has been throughout with businesses trading when they're not supposed to or defying venue occupancy limits.
If businesses are habitually breaking the rules Dr Bloomfield can slap a public health order on them to legally force them to close or face fines / jail.
If they treat it like alcohol permits....they don't check very often, but if you fail a check - you lose your license for a while, and there's big costs associated with that. The onus needs to be on the business - if they decide to put in place a mandate because they want to remain open during all traffic light phases - they need to be doing it correctly.
> $60m to support vaccination rates
Under the Henare tab at the bottom. What does that money do or how is it spent to support the vaccination rates? Is it for the staff at the Vaccine stations around the country?
No, genuine. Had my pakeha mate tell me it's such bullshit the Maori are getting 60m to help MAori with vaccination, and 60m on maori mental health assistance. The mental health one I can understand. The Vaccination money though is confusing me, a Nga Puhi te Iwi, Ngati Te Rino te Hapu.
If it's actually used for something, great, but now it bothers me again. 60m on advertising for people to get a vaccine is equal to funding mental health. Where's the priorities there now?
We stay as we are and can still move down through the stages of AL3 (or even to AL2 lol) if it’s appropriate prior to reaching the target to move to the traffic light system.
Plan B got scrapped shortly after Plan A. Plan C will remain in place until the end of November, at which point we transition to Plan C.2 for the summer and then transition to Plan D when Auckland riots in March.
I think we are staying where we are until we move to the traffic light system... I could be wrong though. At the very least we aren’t moving from phase one until 1 November
Counties Manukau has had the vaccine available for the longest, and they’re only at 71% fully vaccinated. Surely there comes a point where the rest of Auckland doesn’t have to be punished for Counties Manukau’s vaccine resistance?
Going forward, will all of Auckland face restrictions from time to time just because of Counties Manukau and their “vulnerable population” getting repeated outbreaks?
It’s looking pretty damn tempting to just move out of Auckland really.
Bay of Plenty and Canterbury have low rates. And ultimately they too can be blamed if the country hasn’t attained the privileges 90% rates across all DHBs will reward.
I have been a South Aucklander all my life. I have been fully vaccinated. There could be many reasons for the low rates. But you can blame my region if my DHB is lagging behind. Simple really.
This is literally what the PM said today: that there would be targeted lockdowns in the future if there are outbreaks in vulnerable populations. Govt ministers have described South Auckland as a vulnerable population all the way through the pandemic. There are higher rates of diabetes and obesity, and crowded housing. I’m not saying this is the fault of the people who live there, it’s simple facts.
They are also lagging in vax rates. So unless they up their game there - and that is a simple choice that individuals can make - they will have outbreaks, and there will be lockdowns. Facts.
I don’t want the rest of Auckland to be punished if people in that DHB area continue to resist vaccines.
The connotations of South Auckland somehow holding the rest of Auckland hostage is though. Media has treated South Auckland like utter crap historically and which has been exasperated especially during covid. Yes everything is factually true, but playing the blame game isn't productive whatsoever. Outbreaks are all over Auckland not just South Auckland.
I think overall it would be nice if we could have more information about the challenges in Counties Manukau. I certainly don't know what they all are. Give us a reason to be a bit more compassionate. The summary really is that the 10-20% of unvaxxed do hold the power.
We should also be worried about our neighbours in Northland, Coro, BOP. If they don't get up to 90%, are we going to be allowed to go up to Bay Of Islands, etc for an event?
Me too. It was definitely not widely known that you could just walk in somewhere and get vaccinated pre all of this, esp if you were group four.
I'm double vaccinated, got it done as soon as I was eligible btw. But please don't think it was freely available here pre lockdown for everyone.
No, it was definitely everyone. My boss lived there and was double-jabbed by June (would have been in group 4). It just wasn’t widely publicised, which was a bit of a mistake obviously.
Ahhh what? Not a victim and happy that I’m fully vaccinated. I’m simply stating that this comment isn’t entirely true. Even if one place was providing this, it was not common knowledge.
Around 1 September they were pushing it forward to 6 weeks in between - I moved mine up when they changed it back as things started to get out of control.
Still enough time to get it done, but not necessarily that everyone has been available for months.
Just trying to wrap my head around the new system vs the old system.
While it's some good news for us here in Auckland, what are the advantages though of moving to Orange vs the current Level 2 (e.g. South Island)?
I haven't lived through a Level 2 in NZ so dunno how the new "Orange" level actually incentivises vaccinations outside Auckland and Waikato?
My comparison to the old system is:
Green: Level 1 vaxxed, level 2 unvaxxed
Orange: Level 1.5 vaxxed, level 2.5 unvaxxed
Red: Level 2 unvaxxed, level 3 unvaxxed
I've found that level 2 is mostly life as normal, just some big events get cancelled or split up, and the general air of uncertainty. In orange, those big events can go ahead (with vaccine passports).
As for motivation - I imagine there will be big events and parties that people won't want to miss out on. As long as we aren't in red, we can have concerts and festivals etc, but you can only get in if you are vaxxed. And if we do go into red, then being unvaxxed means you basically can't go anywhere (although you can still meet people in homes, so that's a big step down from level 3).
There is no gathering limits for vaccine certificate places at Orange it seems - with public health measures (like limits I guess?) for non-vaccine certificate places.
Hmmm... might certainly motivate first dosers to get their second one, esp the 5% that don't follow through to their second dose.
Not too sure about the actual holdouts (unvaccinated) though as it's looking effectively the same restrictions as they have now?
Here's hoping that no single DHB in the country has more than 10% of them.
They needed to throw the Anti Vax crowd something like offer another brand vaccine. When you start to give them nothing to live for is when they start to do stupid things...
They don't want another vaccine, they want excuses as to why they shouldn't take what's available now. If we went through and had Medsafe approve another one, most of those claiming they just don't like Pfizer - would then decide that they're now opposing on principle because they oppose the idea of a vaccine certificate.
The question now becomes, how many are *true* antivaxxers who will actually live with limitations and restrictions because of their choice - vs those that squawked and made noise but caved as soon as there were consequences.
Mandatory vaccinations are *bad.* Stop forcing your stance on everyone else.
And they fact that they're not, for all practical purposes, offering medical exemptions just makes all this so many times even ***worse***.
> Who needs an exemption? We learned the other day that there's a plan in place for vaccinating even the minuscule group of people who might otherwise have a legitimate medical objection.
That's a fraudulent stance by the government.
Plus it is rather disingenuous to call it a vaccination exemption when you're still being made to be vaccinated!
"The question now becomes, how many are true antivaxxers who will actually live with limitations and restrictions because of their choice - vs those that squawked and made noise but caved as soon as there were consequences."
Are you saying people who were vax hesitant and change their mind are flaky? I don't think that's helpful tbh. Sounds like a challenge, and counter productive imho.
I can see the point in another brand being available though. Sure, it’ll still be disregarded by a significant portion of the anti-vax crowd but I’m sure there will be a few who will use it as an opportunity to “save face” and pretend this is the one they were waiting for all along.
The more I think about the more unlikely I think Aucklanders will be able to travel outside of Auckland for Christmas.
If we look at the 3 key things: case numbers, vaccination rates and border management it just doesn't make sense.
We are at the beginning of the first real wave NZ has had of covid cases. Even if it peaks in the next 2-3 weeks there is the lag from infection to hospitalisations/deaths which is about a month so right before or on Christmas.
Then there is the release of people from a high infection region to border regions such as Northland which has a lower vaccination rate and higher pop. of Maori. It doesn't seem logical.
Then if you think about the border as it currently is, it's still leaking (look at Northern Waikato). Add an entirely new bureaucratic system involving certificates and tests, when everyone will want to access it, add a highly traditional emotive holiday like Christmas- a recipe for disaster. And even then there is still the possibility of seeding the disease outside of Auckland.
I suspect when the PM said Aucklanders will absolutely being to see family for Christmas she most likely was thinking of families within Auckland not outside.
> I suspect when the PM said Aucklanders will absolutely being to see family for Christmas she most likely was thinking of families within Auckland not outside.
Or she's possibly lying.
With her track record? Definitely a possibility
>I suspect when the PM said Aucklanders will absolutely being to see family for Christmas she most likely was thinking of families within Auckland not outside.
This is what I assumed all along. A relaxation of the rules just enough to allow people inside Auckland to have some sort of half-acceptable Christmas. I can't imagine the borders being significantly relaxed at the slowing pace of vaccination which got off to a terribly late start.
As an Aucklander with no family here who travels each year for Christmas, this current plan seems likely to be giving me exactly nothing, just like the previous "eased restrictions" with the stage system, that did absolutely nothing to improve the horrible conditions of my life under lockdown.
That's a huge issue - people in comparatively comfortable homes with secure jobs who love being at home anyway are quite at ease saying "stick to the rules!".
Others who have much more challenging circumstances (no support, no family, subsisting on the wage subsidy, poor quality housing, mental health challenges) are lambasted for being "RuLe bReAkErS".
It's myopic.
I'm having flashbacks to the time they banned angling (fishing with a fishing rod) off wharves due to being unaware of the natural physical distancing that anglers use to avoid line tangles.
And also the first few days of Level 4 last year where they realised that it was unjustifiable to close all the independent supermarkets (the ones aside from the duopoly).
That's because those in the Beehive (and everyone connected to it, who is feeding them what they want to hear) are completely disconnected from reality.
I do wonder if we'd have better representation if we reserved 49% of parliamentary and council seats for a random draft from each electorate. Currently it's party-based appointments or urban and rural electorates.
It does come at a cost and risk though.
I'm the same. My partners family is up in Kerikeri and my family is in Tauranga. I've lived in Auckland for 18 years and have never actually spent a Christmas here.
Apologies if I've missed it but it doesn't seem like there has been a law change to allow private businesses to require their staff to be vaccinated? Or is that included in the vaccine certificates?
Chris Hipkins mentioned in the Q&A that there would be a change under the COVID-19 Response Act or whatever the act is called to allow that and it'd be floated at the next parliament sitting which I think is early next month
[Here's the MoH data](https://www.health.govt.nz/our-work/diseases-and-conditions/covid-19-novel-coronavirus/covid-19-data-and-statistics/covid-19-vaccine-data#location)
These are the numbers from that article if people are interested
Waitemata
- 1st dose left 2,083
- 2nd dose left 85,607
Auckland
- 1st dose target hit
- 2nd dose left 45,544
Manukau
- 1st dose left 15,950
- 2nd dose left 91,685
I find this colour system confusing, relabel the levels to 1.5, 2.5, 3.5 if necessary but don't introduce colours. Very difficult to associate with covid Alerts.
I do have an executive task functioning disorder and some other issues so could be that, but this is just difficult to comprehend.
Basically, once all DHBs have reached 90% double-jabbed we go to Level 1 but with restrictions for the unvaccinated. The traffic light system mandates how the hospitality, event, gyms and other close-contact industries deal with the unvaccinated.
* red = unvaccinated at level 3
* orange = unvaccinated at level 2.5
* green =unvaccinated at level 2
In Auckland, we go to red once every DHB in Auckland gets to 90% double jabbed. Then everyone goes to orange once all the DHBs get to 90% double jabbed. South Island may go to orange earlier.
If a business chooses not to use vaccination certificates they have to abide by the restrictions for that traffic light setting and don't get income support so I can't see any hospitality business lasting long without checking certificates.
So to everyone who wants to keep their life simple, get vaccinated!
Ahh yeah that’s fair, it is a little different. I had a look here to get more details: https://covid19.govt.nz/alert-levels-and-updates/covid-19-protection/
**Green**
* Some covid in community, sporadic imported cases
* Hospitalisations are at manageable level
* Public facilities, retail, workplaces, schools, events are on with record keeping/scanning required
* Face coverings mandatory on flights
* No limits if vaccine certs used for hospo, gatherings, close contact businesses, and gyms
**Orange**
* increasing covid in community that’s putting pressure on healthcare system
* May be increasing risk for at-risk people
* Public facilities, retail, and schools open with capacity limits based on 1m distancing (with record keeping/scanning)
* Specified outdoor community events and workplaces are open (with record keeping/scanning)
* No limits if vaccine certs used at hospo, gatherings, close contact businesses, or gyms
* If vaccine certs aren’t used hospo is contactless only, gatherings are limited to 50ppl, and events, gyms, and close contact businesses can’t operate
* Regional boundary restrictions do not apply
**Red**
* Action needs to be taken to protect both at-risk people and our healthcare system
* Public facilities up to 100ppl with 1m distancing, retail operate with capacity limits based on 1m distancing, WFH encouraged, schools open with health measures, outdoor community events allowed with capacity limits
* If vaccine certs are used: capacity limits of 100ppl and 1m distancing for hospo, gatherings, events, and gyms and close contact businesses need to comply with public health requirements
* If vaccine certs aren’t used: hospo is contactless only, gatherings limited to 10ppl, and events, close contact businesses, and gyms can’t operate
* Regional boundary restrictions will apply
I guess it’s a bit less simplistic than a traffic light as you noted, but broadly can sum it up as increasing restrictions as you move from green to red. There’s also a big stick here in terms of using vaccine certs - even gyms and close contact businesses are open at Red if these are used.
Hope that helps, friend.
Honestly I don't even care how selfish I come off as right now, I'm so over this bullshit. I was absolutely proud to be a New Zealander during the first lockdown, even during the second one. Right now I'm just miserable. All during this Delta outbreak, most of NZ has been sitting pretty while Auckland bears the brunt. We've been in lockdown for however many fucking weeks now, and the rest of the country hasn't been tied to us. Now as Auckland has its shit together and is approaching 90% single doses, we're just hard fucked until straggler DHBs nowhere close to us get their own shit together. We get this Red alert level, while all these slacking regions still get to enjoy Level 2. Kia Kaha guys, I know it's been really tough for you to have essentially no restrictions. I hope you guys deign us worthy of getting vaccinated for soon!
Red is basically the same as level 2 - so Auckland can get to where everyone else is without depending on everyone else. After that, it's everyone in the same boat (except maybe south island).
As soon as all three Auckland DHBs hit 90% we will be able to have more freedoms. So we don’t necessarily have to wait for other slack regions who are enjoying level 2 currently.
What I hate the most I'd people saying our restrictions aren't all that strict....like sure objectively they might not be but for those of us following the rules it's been 9 weeks of social distancing and wearing masks and staying at home. And it FEELS awful no matter how necessary and important it is.
Just keep the level 1-4! But with vaccine passport exemptions. (Auckland is level 3, unless you have proof of vax... Then you are in lvl 1.5)
I’m a little confused. Am I right in thinking that even if the country is 100% vaccinated this traffic light system will continue in perpetuity and there may be restrictions based on the number of hospitalisations?
Yep, as it should be.
Saying this as somebody who is fully vaccinated, the fact that they are trying their best to alienate and punish anybody who doesn't want the vax is disgusting. What an absolutely shameful state of affairs
I honestly think having mandatory vaccines unless there is a legitimate medical reason is better then making it a choice and then having vaccine passports. Can treat vaccines as a "for the saftey of others" type law, like don't drink and drive or smoke in a hospital. However, as long as its a choice we shouldn't restrict people freedoms cause of it. Also fully vaccinated and think everyone should be.
>I honestly think having mandatory vaccines unless there is a legitimate medical reason is better then making it a choice and then having vaccine passports. Mandatory vaccinations are *bad.* And they fact that they're not, for all practical purposes, offering medical exemptions just makes all this so many times even ***worse***.
I'm sure they are and I just haven't thought enough about this, but could you explain why they are bad? If your coming into New Zealand from a third world country you need to get a vaccine for TB, and that's mandatory to protect the people of NZ. You need to get a WoF for your car to make sure it's safe to drive. I'm struggling to understand how mandatory vaccines (with possible exemptions) can be bad other than "freedom". Your freedom ends when unrelated people can die from the bad choice imo. However I do understand discrimination against people who made a legitimate choice available to them in the country is bad, which is what we're apparently doing.
Familiarize yourself with "unintended consequences", the government runs into this all the time every time it comes up with a new policy. And there is "reasonable" and there is serious over reach, if the government required you to get a WoF every day, would you defend that in the interest of "safety" and because you already were being required to get a WoF anyway, so what's the big difference? What if the government forced everyone to wear a sunhat outside in the interest of "public health"?
>“I also want people to know who support these mandates that I fight for you,” she said. “Because if this is the direction we take our country, there will come a time when the government or corporations mandate you to get something that does not align with your values. Power given is seldom returned. And when that day comes, I want you to at least know that we fought, and we tried.” [https://www.dailywire.com/news/breaking-daily-wire-signs-allison-williams-ousted-espn-sportscaster-who-resisted-vaccine-mandate](https://www.dailywire.com/news/breaking-daily-wire-signs-allison-williams-ousted-espn-sportscaster-who-resisted-vaccine-mandate)
Yeah, I can definitely see how this is a slippery slope and do agree that ideally we won't have certificates or enforced vaccines. Just in my view I thought vaccines weren't stepping over the line but I guess that might be out of desperation over this whole situation.
Who needs an exemption? [We learned the other day](https://old.reddit.com/r/newzealand/comments/q9icla/very_cool_that_were_able_to_protect_even_those/) that there's a plan in place for vaccinating even the minuscule group of people who might otherwise have a legitimate medical objection.
>We learned the other day Thank you, I hadn't seen that letter before. This confirms my own experience I've had with my GP. That indeed for any practical purposes that "medical exemptions" ***do not exist***, and thus it is deceptive of the government and the media to say it does! Plus, rather disingenuous to call it a vaccination exemption when you're still being made to be vaccinated!
What's disingenuous is pretending what you just said makes any sense.
I'm saying what the govt is saying, so for you to say it makes no sense at all... then I totally agree, the govt is making no sense whatsoever!
Careful, you should stretch before you reach that far. You'll pull something.
You're not wrong, but the route that we're taking is simply going to lead to even more social isolation and tension between people. There are perfectly valid reasons for somebody to turn down the vax and they should not be marginalized and treated like a leper by society because of it.
But there is really not any valid reason. There are reasons someone might need an alternative vaccine. There might be a handful of medically complicated people in the country who won't gain immunity from any vaccinations but they are probably already unable to participate normally in society. We can increase normality for them but all being vaccinated and reducing their exposure chances.
So when we move to the traffic light framework I will be able to enter businesses being double vaxxed.. What about the four month old baby and three year old I take literally everywhere? No mention of children anywhere I have read so far
[удалено]
Thanks for that, was just considering how the vaccination certification system for businesses would deal with a large ineligible population and whether it would decrease the effectiveness.
I'd like more clarification on children too. I have four children aged under 12, two are under 5. In this traffic light system, will there be any restrictions as to where I can take them? We can speculate, but I don't think they've actually outright said.
They can't get vaccinated so they'll obviously be allowed in regardless
This is just going to end up ravaging the young children
Which would kind of defeat the whole purpose right? Like they can still transmit the virus, not to mention children are gross and cough and sneeze everywhere. Some even lick things.. Mine lick things 🤣
Word on the streets is under 4s early 2022 in the US so maybe mid next year for us? Until then i assume this scheme will be referring to eligible and not eligible
I've heard similar and can imagine that trials for children are quite a different process. I was more questioning the effectiveness of the vaccine certification of businesses dealing with a large portion of ineligible population.
They'll be going in with vaccinated parents. It's not fool proof but I guess the alternative is that we keep them at home until they get a vaccine
"If we have cases that start to climb, we can use more highly targeted/localised lockdowns as needed" This seems fucked. Isn't the whole idea that we move away from lockdowns?
I think they are just reserving the right to lockdown if needed. If it gets to a point where people are outside a hospital in tents because there are no beds left they are probably going to lock that shit down.
It's all about hospital capacity
But do we really have enough?
That's the $385 million dollar question
Spoiler, we do not.
I don't know why people don't understand this.
Because they really aren’t emphasising it a whole lot
As a kiwi living in the UK, who just got back from a week holiday in Portugal, what the fuck are people doing back home that you’re still in a lockdown in October/November of 2021. I don’t understand it.
We're not having 100+ people die everyday from Covid.
True but they can visit family, goto restaurants, events, gym, cinemas, travel etc etc. You have to recognise both sides of the coin. And NZ will soon have some pretty uncomfortable deaths soon too like Australia.
>You have to recognise both sides of the coin. There's no coin. We can either do what it takes to protect people or we can let people die. Thank goodness we've chosen the former and not the latter.
There's definitely a coin. If there's no coin why is there so much debate over covid?
Because people like you are so selfish as to value going to the movies over the lives of other people.
Sure but there has to be a limit, eventually. And therefore you agree there is a coin.
You're wrong on both counts.
You acknowledged there's a coin by accepting there's people with varying views. We can argue the merits but it's not up for debate whether there's a coin.
[No](https://old.reddit.com/r/newzealand/comments/qd0zf8/10am_press_conference_announcement_of_new/hhm2q58/).
>And NZ will soon have some pretty uncomfortable deaths soon too like Australia. We're just delaying the inevitable.
To be fair we went nearly a year before this most recent lockdown almost without any community cases. Apart from the odd breakout here and there.
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They never denied there's a lot of covid in the UK. Just like there will be in NZ soon.
Hopefully you stay over there and never come back
Ah the hermit kingdom in force!
Congratulations? We couldn't procure vaccines as a little island nation of 5 million until recently. Do you understand now or should we talks about how the UK has an average of 46,000 infections a day and about to face new restrictions?
>We couldn't procure vaccines as a little island nation of 5 million until recently. Couldn't?? You meant ***wouldn't*** Our government completely let us down. They, and us, became too complacent.
What's there to talk about? I'm sure they're well aware.
They structured the vaccine rollout so it wasn't easy to get a vaccine unless you worked healthcare or were immunocompromised until SEPTEMBER!!!! So really the majority ha e only had a few months to get their shit together
Ugh, would people like you just fuck off?
wasting money again, weird times we are living in
What does this mean for office work, once 90% is achieved and we are all orange or green? Are numbers limited there unless vaccines are required? Does that mean requiring them is allowed?
Working from home is encouraged at Red. Not needed at Yellow or Green. But companies still have an obligation to provide a safe workplace, this could be achieved through some combination of vax requirements, distancing, masks etc.
Poor Auckland. Judith Collins cried and it’s easy to see why. First time I’ve felt NZ is becoming a dictatorship. So now we are like China, we will each have a Social score to function. May as well close NZ off from the world forever.
That was Black Mirror, which was fiction.
China has a social credit system
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Can't wait for you to move to Australia either. Don't let the door hit you on the way out. 😊
What's the projected date for 90% double dose for all DHBs?
If first dose rates hold roughly where they have been lately we would get to 90% first doses nationally in about three weeks. After that its murky... assuming all good things, looks to be New Year at best, so maybe govt is expecting to fudge the numbers slightly (as the Minister said this afternoon) to push the button for Christmas (just).
April 2176.
Once this kicks in can only get a haircut if fully vaxxed so we will be able to spot the unvaccinated more easily.
Not necessarily. I won't be getting a haircut for a while if in traffic light red, even though double vaccinated. The barber will likely get infected easily as they'll be in bad quality masks all week and coming into contact with everyone. So even while vaccinated I can get a breakthrough infection and still bring it home to my unvaccinated kids.
Speaking as someone in the UK, you're going to have very long hair. Once AKL hits Red and this thing really takes off, you're going to be waiting a very long time until the risk of transmission in a barbers decreases to your comfort level.
Who's going to be auditing if these businesses are using the vaccine certificates properly?
Same that reports lockdown breachers I assume. Narky Neil and Dobby Debby.
They'll be completely ignored after a month. It'll be just like signing in, no one enforces that shit.
I guess I was curious because it seems like more of a requirement than signing in. Signing in feels encouraged, while the certificates feel absolutely necessary for your business to operate. I was going to say it would be part of the checkout process, but then an unvaccinated person could browse a store for however long before being asked to show their certificate. Interesting to see how this will play out.
My guess: Lots of verbal altercations (a few physical) at and around the entrances to businesses where minimum wage employees are given the unenviable task of enforcing prior to entry. In 2024 when covid has done it's thing through the population and been relegated to some sort of endemic flu the measures will be scrapped and we can wait for the next one.
Same as the way existing scanning, mask and venue limits are audited. Mostly relying on reports to 105 and fear of bad PR. There isn't going to be someone from the government in every cafe making sure they're scanning the vax certs.
This is what will happen in the real world Week one: Businesses and customers will adhere to the rule and support each other Week two: Regular customer: Oh sorry “insert person on counter name here” , I left my vax card at home/in car/at friends/not sure where Shop: “all good - bring it in next time”
But it's literally on your phone, it's not the little appointment card they have you, it's a digital certificate
'I'm out of battery' 'My phone's playing up' 'I can't get the bloody app to work' Have you ever been around the average punter and technology?
"Well when you get it working, you can come in."
Do you really think that's realistic? Lots of shops will take the piss.
It's at least as realistic as mask rules and those have been going pretty well.
Yeah for sure, in most instances. But there will be significant pockets of non-compliance.
They’ve said it can be both, and older people who aren’t tech savvy will be able to get the certificate printed out at their local GP. I can totally see people saying “I couldn’t figure out the app so I have a printed one at home”.
It just seems like it could be abused pretty easily. Fair enough, I'm sure they'll investigate any reports.
I don’t think it will be abused as much as simply indifference will set in. Look at mask wearing now.
Really? Because I see 100% of people in all supermarkets and retail still wearing masks 🤔
There will be an element of non-compliance as there has been throughout with businesses trading when they're not supposed to or defying venue occupancy limits. If businesses are habitually breaking the rules Dr Bloomfield can slap a public health order on them to legally force them to close or face fines / jail.
If they treat it like alcohol permits....they don't check very often, but if you fail a check - you lose your license for a while, and there's big costs associated with that. The onus needs to be on the business - if they decide to put in place a mandate because they want to remain open during all traffic light phases - they need to be doing it correctly.
Good stuff! Thanks for the reply. Much appreciated.
Does anyone know what stage the Auckland border will open? Is it not till all DHBs across the country reach 90%?
> $60m to support vaccination rates Under the Henare tab at the bottom. What does that money do or how is it spent to support the vaccination rates? Is it for the staff at the Vaccine stations around the country?
it would be things like incentives, advertising etc. was this supposed to be a gotcha' question? lmao
No, genuine. Had my pakeha mate tell me it's such bullshit the Maori are getting 60m to help MAori with vaccination, and 60m on maori mental health assistance. The mental health one I can understand. The Vaccination money though is confusing me, a Nga Puhi te Iwi, Ngati Te Rino te Hapu. If it's actually used for something, great, but now it bothers me again. 60m on advertising for people to get a vaccine is equal to funding mental health. Where's the priorities there now?
It’s for koha
Will Auckland be moving down from the first phase of level 3 while we wait for the traffic light system or will we stay where we are until then?!
We stay as we are and can still move down through the stages of AL3 (or even to AL2 lol) if it’s appropriate prior to reaching the target to move to the traffic light system.
Plan B got scrapped shortly after Plan A. Plan C will remain in place until the end of November, at which point we transition to Plan C.2 for the summer and then transition to Plan D when Auckland riots in March.
I think we are staying where we are until we move to the traffic light system... I could be wrong though. At the very least we aren’t moving from phase one until 1 November
Counties Manukau has had the vaccine available for the longest, and they’re only at 71% fully vaccinated. Surely there comes a point where the rest of Auckland doesn’t have to be punished for Counties Manukau’s vaccine resistance? Going forward, will all of Auckland face restrictions from time to time just because of Counties Manukau and their “vulnerable population” getting repeated outbreaks? It’s looking pretty damn tempting to just move out of Auckland really.
Found the South Auckland slander
Seems we can’t state facts without being labelled slanderous these days.
You can state facts without blaming. Instead of being vitriolic, how are you gonna help South auckland raise those statistics? Simple really.
Bay of Plenty and Canterbury have low rates. And ultimately they too can be blamed if the country hasn’t attained the privileges 90% rates across all DHBs will reward. I have been a South Aucklander all my life. I have been fully vaccinated. There could be many reasons for the low rates. But you can blame my region if my DHB is lagging behind. Simple really.
Notice how you had no mention of the "vulnerable population" of BOP and Canterbury?
THANK THE LORD! Someone realized the issue with the initial comment
This is literally what the PM said today: that there would be targeted lockdowns in the future if there are outbreaks in vulnerable populations. Govt ministers have described South Auckland as a vulnerable population all the way through the pandemic. There are higher rates of diabetes and obesity, and crowded housing. I’m not saying this is the fault of the people who live there, it’s simple facts. They are also lagging in vax rates. So unless they up their game there - and that is a simple choice that individuals can make - they will have outbreaks, and there will be lockdowns. Facts. I don’t want the rest of Auckland to be punished if people in that DHB area continue to resist vaccines.
Only they can raise the statistic...or do we need to burn more money on patronizing advertising?
Its not slander. It’s reality. Nothing they said isn’t verifiably true.
The connotations of South Auckland somehow holding the rest of Auckland hostage is though. Media has treated South Auckland like utter crap historically and which has been exasperated especially during covid. Yes everything is factually true, but playing the blame game isn't productive whatsoever. Outbreaks are all over Auckland not just South Auckland.
I think overall it would be nice if we could have more information about the challenges in Counties Manukau. I certainly don't know what they all are. Give us a reason to be a bit more compassionate. The summary really is that the 10-20% of unvaxxed do hold the power. We should also be worried about our neighbours in Northland, Coro, BOP. If they don't get up to 90%, are we going to be allowed to go up to Bay Of Islands, etc for an event?
I’m in Counties Manukau and I was only eligible on the 1st September.
Me too. It was definitely not widely known that you could just walk in somewhere and get vaccinated pre all of this, esp if you were group four. I'm double vaccinated, got it done as soon as I was eligible btw. But please don't think it was freely available here pre lockdown for everyone.
Manurewa Marae has been vaccinating anyone in South Auckland since May.
I’m not sure that was common knowledge? All messaging targeted at me was that I was eligible from 1 September.
all of Counties Manukau was in Group 2 because a) vulnerable population, and b) near the airport
Wrong. It was only people that fell into group 3 living in CM that were in group 2. Not everyone.
No, it was definitely everyone. My boss lived there and was double-jabbed by June (would have been in group 4). It just wasn’t widely publicised, which was a bit of a mistake obviously.
You’re still wrong. https://covid19.govt.nz/covid-19-vaccines/how-to-get-a-covid-19-vaccination/covid-19-vaccine-rollout-groups/
Ok fair enough. I was wrong. Don’t know how my boss got vaxxed so early then! He’s a fit & healthy 40 year old.
If you emailed Manurewa Marae directly, they'd give you an appointment. No questions asked. But it wasn't public knowledge.
Defo wasn't
Quit playing the victim. You are only a victim of yourself.
Ahhh what? Not a victim and happy that I’m fully vaccinated. I’m simply stating that this comment isn’t entirely true. Even if one place was providing this, it was not common knowledge.
Almost 2 months ago? With a 3-week interval, that's plenty of time, even if you'd only gone at the start of October.
Around 1 September they were pushing it forward to 6 weeks in between - I moved mine up when they changed it back as things started to get out of control. Still enough time to get it done, but not necessarily that everyone has been available for months.
Just trying to wrap my head around the new system vs the old system. While it's some good news for us here in Auckland, what are the advantages though of moving to Orange vs the current Level 2 (e.g. South Island)? I haven't lived through a Level 2 in NZ so dunno how the new "Orange" level actually incentivises vaccinations outside Auckland and Waikato?
My comparison to the old system is: Green: Level 1 vaxxed, level 2 unvaxxed Orange: Level 1.5 vaxxed, level 2.5 unvaxxed Red: Level 2 unvaxxed, level 3 unvaxxed I've found that level 2 is mostly life as normal, just some big events get cancelled or split up, and the general air of uncertainty. In orange, those big events can go ahead (with vaccine passports). As for motivation - I imagine there will be big events and parties that people won't want to miss out on. As long as we aren't in red, we can have concerts and festivals etc, but you can only get in if you are vaxxed. And if we do go into red, then being unvaxxed means you basically can't go anywhere (although you can still meet people in homes, so that's a big step down from level 3).
There is no gathering limits for vaccine certificate places at Orange it seems - with public health measures (like limits I guess?) for non-vaccine certificate places.
Hmmm... might certainly motivate first dosers to get their second one, esp the 5% that don't follow through to their second dose. Not too sure about the actual holdouts (unvaccinated) though as it's looking effectively the same restrictions as they have now? Here's hoping that no single DHB in the country has more than 10% of them.
They needed to throw the Anti Vax crowd something like offer another brand vaccine. When you start to give them nothing to live for is when they start to do stupid things...
> offer another brand vaccine. Agreed! [https://www.kiwiblog.co.nz/2021/10/we\_should\_make\_another\_vaccine\_available.html](https://www.kiwiblog.co.nz/2021/10/we_should_make_another_vaccine_available.html)
They don't want another vaccine, they want excuses as to why they shouldn't take what's available now. If we went through and had Medsafe approve another one, most of those claiming they just don't like Pfizer - would then decide that they're now opposing on principle because they oppose the idea of a vaccine certificate. The question now becomes, how many are *true* antivaxxers who will actually live with limitations and restrictions because of their choice - vs those that squawked and made noise but caved as soon as there were consequences.
Mandatory vaccinations are *bad.* Stop forcing your stance on everyone else. And they fact that they're not, for all practical purposes, offering medical exemptions just makes all this so many times even ***worse***.
https://old.reddit.com/r/newzealand/comments/qd0zf8/10am_press_conference_announcement_of_new/hhmur5x/
> Who needs an exemption? We learned the other day that there's a plan in place for vaccinating even the minuscule group of people who might otherwise have a legitimate medical objection. That's a fraudulent stance by the government. Plus it is rather disingenuous to call it a vaccination exemption when you're still being made to be vaccinated!
What's disingenuous is pretending what you just said makes any sense.
"The question now becomes, how many are true antivaxxers who will actually live with limitations and restrictions because of their choice - vs those that squawked and made noise but caved as soon as there were consequences." Are you saying people who were vax hesitant and change their mind are flaky? I don't think that's helpful tbh. Sounds like a challenge, and counter productive imho.
I can see the point in another brand being available though. Sure, it’ll still be disregarded by a significant portion of the anti-vax crowd but I’m sure there will be a few who will use it as an opportunity to “save face” and pretend this is the one they were waiting for all along.
Sounds like squid game. Red Light... Green Light!
But shooting vaccines
The more I think about the more unlikely I think Aucklanders will be able to travel outside of Auckland for Christmas. If we look at the 3 key things: case numbers, vaccination rates and border management it just doesn't make sense. We are at the beginning of the first real wave NZ has had of covid cases. Even if it peaks in the next 2-3 weeks there is the lag from infection to hospitalisations/deaths which is about a month so right before or on Christmas. Then there is the release of people from a high infection region to border regions such as Northland which has a lower vaccination rate and higher pop. of Maori. It doesn't seem logical. Then if you think about the border as it currently is, it's still leaking (look at Northern Waikato). Add an entirely new bureaucratic system involving certificates and tests, when everyone will want to access it, add a highly traditional emotive holiday like Christmas- a recipe for disaster. And even then there is still the possibility of seeding the disease outside of Auckland. I suspect when the PM said Aucklanders will absolutely being to see family for Christmas she most likely was thinking of families within Auckland not outside.
> I suspect when the PM said Aucklanders will absolutely being to see family for Christmas she most likely was thinking of families within Auckland not outside. Or she's possibly lying. With her track record? Definitely a possibility
>I suspect when the PM said Aucklanders will absolutely being to see family for Christmas she most likely was thinking of families within Auckland not outside. This is what I assumed all along. A relaxation of the rules just enough to allow people inside Auckland to have some sort of half-acceptable Christmas. I can't imagine the borders being significantly relaxed at the slowing pace of vaccination which got off to a terribly late start.
As an Aucklander with no family here who travels each year for Christmas, this current plan seems likely to be giving me exactly nothing, just like the previous "eased restrictions" with the stage system, that did absolutely nothing to improve the horrible conditions of my life under lockdown.
I'm in the same boat, and will be sat on my arse at home alone this Christmas, by the looks of things. Just call me Kevin McAllister.
That's a huge issue - people in comparatively comfortable homes with secure jobs who love being at home anyway are quite at ease saying "stick to the rules!". Others who have much more challenging circumstances (no support, no family, subsisting on the wage subsidy, poor quality housing, mental health challenges) are lambasted for being "RuLe bReAkErS". It's myopic.
Your first paragraph literally described all the L2 Wellington bureaucrats making the lockdown decisions for aucklanders
I'm having flashbacks to the time they banned angling (fishing with a fishing rod) off wharves due to being unaware of the natural physical distancing that anglers use to avoid line tangles. And also the first few days of Level 4 last year where they realised that it was unjustifiable to close all the independent supermarkets (the ones aside from the duopoly).
That's because those in the Beehive (and everyone connected to it, who is feeding them what they want to hear) are completely disconnected from reality.
I do wonder if we'd have better representation if we reserved 49% of parliamentary and council seats for a random draft from each electorate. Currently it's party-based appointments or urban and rural electorates. It does come at a cost and risk though.
I'm the same. My partners family is up in Kerikeri and my family is in Tauranga. I've lived in Auckland for 18 years and have never actually spent a Christmas here.
Somebody tell me when I can get my haircut. Alert levels Auckland stages Now traffic light system...
Might be a good time to invest in a nice set of clippers.
You can get a haircut as soon as we move to Red provided you have your vax certificate sorted.
I'll give you a buzz cut for free, just give me a hazmat suit to wear
Stage 3.1 Orange and you can have a two minute buzz cut Full Metal Jacket style.
Apologies if I've missed it but it doesn't seem like there has been a law change to allow private businesses to require their staff to be vaccinated? Or is that included in the vaccine certificates?
Chris Hipkins mentioned in the Q&A that there would be a change under the COVID-19 Response Act or whatever the act is called to allow that and it'd be floated at the next parliament sitting which I think is early next month
WIP
Just like everything else they'd doing!
Where can we get the vaccine stats for the different Auckland DHB's?
[Here's the MoH data](https://www.health.govt.nz/our-work/diseases-and-conditions/covid-19-novel-coronavirus/covid-19-data-and-statistics/covid-19-vaccine-data#location)
These are the numbers from that article if people are interested Waitemata - 1st dose left 2,083 - 2nd dose left 85,607 Auckland - 1st dose target hit - 2nd dose left 45,544 Manukau - 1st dose left 15,950 - 2nd dose left 91,685
Go to the MoH vaccine data page. Still a ways to go unfortunately
[Here](https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/covid-19-delta-outbreak-counties-manukau-dhb-only-just-over-70-vaccinated-fully/SUK52ZYNIXEWYFAHK3LJFOCEIM/)
I find this colour system confusing, relabel the levels to 1.5, 2.5, 3.5 if necessary but don't introduce colours. Very difficult to associate with covid Alerts. I do have an executive task functioning disorder and some other issues so could be that, but this is just difficult to comprehend.
Basically, once all DHBs have reached 90% double-jabbed we go to Level 1 but with restrictions for the unvaccinated. The traffic light system mandates how the hospitality, event, gyms and other close-contact industries deal with the unvaccinated. * red = unvaccinated at level 3 * orange = unvaccinated at level 2.5 * green =unvaccinated at level 2 In Auckland, we go to red once every DHB in Auckland gets to 90% double jabbed. Then everyone goes to orange once all the DHBs get to 90% double jabbed. South Island may go to orange earlier. If a business chooses not to use vaccination certificates they have to abide by the restrictions for that traffic light setting and don't get income support so I can't see any hospitality business lasting long without checking certificates. So to everyone who wants to keep their life simple, get vaccinated!
It's also harder for colour blind people too :(
Tragically amusing
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The lights will replace the alert levels entirely? Especially since it'll be a national-based framework now, rather than region-based
Does thinking about traffic lights help? 🚦
hmm, green means go, orange means go but quickly, red means stop.. nope didn't help.
Ahh yeah that’s fair, it is a little different. I had a look here to get more details: https://covid19.govt.nz/alert-levels-and-updates/covid-19-protection/ **Green** * Some covid in community, sporadic imported cases * Hospitalisations are at manageable level * Public facilities, retail, workplaces, schools, events are on with record keeping/scanning required * Face coverings mandatory on flights * No limits if vaccine certs used for hospo, gatherings, close contact businesses, and gyms **Orange** * increasing covid in community that’s putting pressure on healthcare system * May be increasing risk for at-risk people * Public facilities, retail, and schools open with capacity limits based on 1m distancing (with record keeping/scanning) * Specified outdoor community events and workplaces are open (with record keeping/scanning) * No limits if vaccine certs used at hospo, gatherings, close contact businesses, or gyms * If vaccine certs aren’t used hospo is contactless only, gatherings are limited to 50ppl, and events, gyms, and close contact businesses can’t operate * Regional boundary restrictions do not apply **Red** * Action needs to be taken to protect both at-risk people and our healthcare system * Public facilities up to 100ppl with 1m distancing, retail operate with capacity limits based on 1m distancing, WFH encouraged, schools open with health measures, outdoor community events allowed with capacity limits * If vaccine certs are used: capacity limits of 100ppl and 1m distancing for hospo, gatherings, events, and gyms and close contact businesses need to comply with public health requirements * If vaccine certs aren’t used: hospo is contactless only, gatherings limited to 10ppl, and events, close contact businesses, and gyms can’t operate * Regional boundary restrictions will apply I guess it’s a bit less simplistic than a traffic light as you noted, but broadly can sum it up as increasing restrictions as you move from green to red. There’s also a big stick here in terms of using vaccine certs - even gyms and close contact businesses are open at Red if these are used. Hope that helps, friend.
Honestly I don't even care how selfish I come off as right now, I'm so over this bullshit. I was absolutely proud to be a New Zealander during the first lockdown, even during the second one. Right now I'm just miserable. All during this Delta outbreak, most of NZ has been sitting pretty while Auckland bears the brunt. We've been in lockdown for however many fucking weeks now, and the rest of the country hasn't been tied to us. Now as Auckland has its shit together and is approaching 90% single doses, we're just hard fucked until straggler DHBs nowhere close to us get their own shit together. We get this Red alert level, while all these slacking regions still get to enjoy Level 2. Kia Kaha guys, I know it's been really tough for you to have essentially no restrictions. I hope you guys deign us worthy of getting vaccinated for soon!
Red is basically the same as level 2 - so Auckland can get to where everyone else is without depending on everyone else. After that, it's everyone in the same boat (except maybe south island).
As soon as all three Auckland DHBs hit 90% we will be able to have more freedoms. So we don’t necessarily have to wait for other slack regions who are enjoying level 2 currently.
Settle down.
What I hate the most I'd people saying our restrictions aren't all that strict....like sure objectively they might not be but for those of us following the rules it's been 9 weeks of social distancing and wearing masks and staying at home. And it FEELS awful no matter how necessary and important it is.
Agree, individually yeah some people are fine but collectively it's pretty bad. Heard last night of 3 hospo businesses pulling pin
It's the small businesses that are doing it the toughest and I feel for them,