The last of the Government’s recent sweeping changes to the country’s Covid-19 response comes into effect today: the end of all remaining vaccine mandates.
The change comes two weeks after authorities scrapped the traffic light system, removed mask-wearing requirements in most places, and changed isolation guidance for household contacts.
The last workforce in New Zealand with a government vaccine mandate is health and disability workers. From 11.59pm on Monday, September 26, this will no longer be in place.
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It will now be at an employer’s discretion whether they require workers to be vaccinated.
It comes after the mandate for Fire and Emergency New Zealand, NZ Police, and Defence Force employees was removed in July.
Mandates were introduced to protect workers in high-risk settings from Covid-19, and help prevent transmission between workers and vulnerable people, the Ministry of Health said.
Mandatory vaccination for school and early-learning staff, and high-risk health and disability sectors was announced on October 11, 2021. In November 2021, the mandate was extended to police and the Defence Force.
Vaccine passes were required for people working in public-facing non-essential services – such as hair salons, gyms and hospitality venues – and members of the public were required to present passes, until the requirement for vaccine passes was dropped in April.
Health New Zealand data earlier supplied to Stuff showed, at the end of June, 96.8% of the (then) district health board workforce was fully vaccinated and boosted.
At the end of June, 980 district staff had had their employment terminated due to Covid-19 Vaccination Order requirements. This comprised 399 nurses and midwives; 29 medical staff and 552 “other”.
A further 171 resigned and 336 had been stood down (as of June 27).
The Ministry of Health said it was of the view that mandates contributed to reducing Covid-19 transmission in high-risk settings, reducing the risk of severe illness for some of our most vulnerable citizens.
Covid-19 Response Minister Dr Ayesha Verrall told Stuff: “Our low mortality rate is a testament to the mandates working.”
This was backed by University of Otago (Wellington) epidemiologist Michael Baker, who said mandates “really helped to get high coverage, that would have saved many lives”.
Mandating vaccination for healthcare workers in particular had multiple impacts: protecting workers; the people they were serving; workforce viability – particularly over winter – and maintaining the “integrity” of the workforce, leading by example, Baker said.
So why scrap it?
With fewer Covid-19 cases, a highly vaccinated population, and anti-viral medicine access, officials say a sector-wide mandate is “no longer needed”.
Verrall said the health workforce had a “very high vaccination rate” – estimated to be greater than 95% – and vaccination “has a reduced overall efficacy against Omicron transmission”.
“This makes vaccination status information less important as a way to predict the risk of a health professional infecting clients.”
Vaccination had been one of the strongest and most effective defences against Covid-19, Verrall said.
“The majority of New Zealanders embraced the science and put their trust in the health system and therefore deserve the biggest accolade.”
The mandates were not without their controversy: they were challenged in court, and were a central feature of the 23-day Parliament grounds occupation which caused up to $1 million worth of damage, Newshub reported, and cost police more than $2.5m.
Under guidance issued to businesses, employees who were fired due to a previous vaccine requirement will not have a right to get their job back.
WorkSafe guidance stated some employers may want workers to return if they have vacancies but there was “no requirement for an employer to offer a former employee their job back or for a former employee to accept”.
Employees would still be able to bring a personal grievance if they felt they had been unjustifiably dismissed or disadvantaged as a result of a decision their employer made about vaccination.
While masks are no longer mandatory in most settings, they are still required in healthcare settings.
Some places, such as workplaces, marae or special events, may ask people to mask-up but this is at their discretion.
People may also choose to continue to wear masks.
If you are visiting the following healthcare settings, you will be required to wear a mask:
Counselling and mental health and addiction services are excluded.
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