Covid-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins has conceded there's still plenty for the Government to "work through" with their upcoming vaccination certificate system with mandates, fines and a people-friendly app all being considered.
Hipkins spoke to Breakfast on Wednesday morning after Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced on Tuesday vaccine certificates would be introduced this summer.
The minister said the system had plenty of moving parts.
"We're working our way through where you might need to use a vaccine certificate but fundamentally, the key thing is people will be able to use a paper copy or something on their phone," Hipkins said.
"It will be a verification that they've been vaccinated but it will also have the capacity to record test results as well for those who aren't vaccinated.
"We want it to operate pretty easily and pretty seamlessly but there's quite a bit to work through."
Hipkins warned the system will also have "sanctions" for those who may try to use someone else's certificate, given the existing temptation to do so with no other verification of identification connected to it.
"We will have an ability to verify that the name on the certificate matches the name on the national immunisation database," he said.
"There will be fines for people who try to defraud the system - if you try to use someone else's certificate and pass it off as your own, there's a good chance you will be caught doing that and there will be sanctions."
Hipkins added businesses looking to mandate vaccine certificates in their workplaces should seek legal advice for the time being but the Government could help with their own rules.
"We're working our way through whether there should be any change to the current legal work around that but it's not an easy task," he said.
"But we want to make sure as we get to the era of vaccine certificates being widely used, everyone is clear on who can do what."
The minister was challenged why such a system wasn't implemented in New Zealand earlier given their introductions in other countries much earlier this year with the arrival of the Delta variant and whether or not it was Aotearoa's low vaccination rate that held it back.
Hipkins responded that the Government timed their decision correctly for New Zealand's situation and that a global focus wasn't correct.
"You can't necessarily compare other countries with New Zealand," he said.
"We can't necessarily assume that the effect of variant in say India is going to be the same as here in New Zealand.
"There are much lower testing rates in India and the living conditions are very different in the places where they've had outbreaks so we have to look at the science that is here.
"The underlying point is, yes, we did know that there were new variants emerging and that there was always the possibility that Covid-19 would get back into the New Zealand community so we've been planning for that."
The vaccination certificate system is expected to be rolled out in November.
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