Trucking companies say a vaccine mandate at regional borders would be a problem because they are already struggling with a driver shortage and fragile supply chain.
By Amy Williams of rnz.co.nz
The Government is looking at making vaccination a requirement to cross regional boundaries for all but some travel.
Transporting forum chief executive Nick Leggett said the sector could not afford to take unvaccinated drivers off the road.
"We have a shortage of drivers and a shortage of people in the overall freight industry. We've got issues with ships being able to call at our ports," he said.
"We are compromised and a compulsory vaccine requirement at borders I think would cause significant disruption and slow our economy even further at a time when we can't afford it."
Anyone leaving Auckland for essential reasons must return a negative Covid-19 test in the seven days before they cross the border.
But the testing regime did not catch an unvaccinated person who later returned a positive result for the virus in Christchurch following a visit to Auckland - and now there are calls for vaccination to be a requirement for anyone leaving the region.
Leggett said drivers did not pose a great risk of transferring Covid-19 to other people.
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