James Shaw told Jami-Lee Ross "you can’t believe everything you read on the Internet" during a heated Covid-19 clash in tonight's multi-party leaders debate.
The Green Party leader made the comment after Advance Party NZ's co-leader said he didn't regret drawing thousands of people to an anti-lockdown protest in Auckland while the city was under Alert Level 2 restrictions.
Ross postulated that the lockdowns caused more harm than the virus.
“We are the only country in the world where the death rate went down during the global pandemic and to one of Jami’s points, actually the suicide rate is down over the same time last year," Shaw said.
"So you shouldn’t believe everything you read on the Internet."
The party leaders were then asked if they would take a Covid-19 vaccine should one become available.
All the leaders replied they would, with ACT's David Seymour adding the caveat "as long as it's safe".
Jami-Lee Ross was the only leader to give a definitive "no" saying he wouldn't take a "rushed vaccine".
“The case fatality rate for the flu and Covid-19 aren’t to dissimilar, would you lock the country down for the flu?”
When pressed for his views on vaccines in general, Ross said his children are vaccinated and so is he.
“But people should have choice and medical freedom,” he said.
Fact Check: The case fatality rate of Covid-19 in the US, which has the largest number of cases and deaths in the world, is 2.8 per cent, according to Johns Hopkins data. The case fatality rate of influenza in the US is 0.002 per cent.
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