NewsDesk @infectiousdiseasenews
The New Zealand government announced today a plan for reopening it’s borders after about 2 years.
The New Zealand border will reopen to vaccinated Kiwis and other current eligible travellers from Australia at 11.59pm on 27 February 2022, and to the same groups from the rest of the world only two weeks later on 13 March 2022.
The Government’s reconnecting plan will see all New Zealanders and key visa holders able to start to enter the country over the coming three months, assisting with the economic recovery and immediately address worker shortages.
This is a very carefully developed plan that replaces managed isolation and quarantine (MIQ) for the vast majority of travellers while ensuring we maintain ongoing measures to reduce the spread of COVID-19 in our community from recent arrivals.
With 94% of our population fully vaccinated, and 92% of those over 18 now eligible for a booster by the end of February it’s time to shift gears in our COVID-19 response to focus on reconnection and recovery.
By reducing the gap to get boosted to three months we’re ensuring we reach our highest possible boosted rates before fully reopening.
By the time we start to reopen our border, we’ll be one of the most vaccinated and most boosted countries in the world and the COVID-19 Protection Framework will be well established in helping to manage COVID outbreaks.
Our plan has built in protections to help manage risks such as future variants. A phased approach to reopening reduces the risk of a surge of cases, while prioritising the return of New Zealanders and much needed entry of skilled workers.
Read more at New Zealand government
What’s being announced today is about gearing up in manageable steps to fully re-open as safely as possible to enable us to live with COVID-19 but not be overwhelmed by it.
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