Covid vaccine mandates removed for education, police, defence

Covid-19 vaccine mandates have been scrapped for workers in education, police and the Defence Force, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has announced.

She said the Government will also not require mandates to be in place for businesses operating vaccine passes.

It will come into effect on Monday, April 4 at 11.59pm.

The use of vaccine mandates will continue, however, for health, aged care workers, Corrections staff, and border and MIQ workers, Ardern said.

READ MORE: PM reveals changes to mandates, vaccines passes and restrictions

Vaccine mandates were controversially introduced in October last year. Ardern said the Government had always been cautious about their use, only applying them to these workforces.

Ardern explained the Government had reached out to Professor David Skegg and the Public Health Advisory Group about advice for their future use as vaccination rates increased.

She said their advice was clear - the case for or against is now more finely balanced due to relatively high vaccination coverage and increasing natural immunity. The apparent lowering of vaccines against transmission of Omicron was also a factor.

Ardern said Skegg and the group believed several mandates could be dropped once the Omicron peak had passed, which is occurring in Auckland.

With the Government no longer requiring mandates to be in place for education, police, the Defence Force and businesses operating vaccines passes, the prime minister explained: "Whether or not these workplaces will continue to need to be vaccinated to do their work will be a decision for their employers or those otherwise responsible for those workforces."

Ardern commented the rationale for mandates remaining in place for health, aged care workers, Corrections staff, and border and MIQ workers "is clear".

"These are either workers supporting our most vulnerable or they work in high-risk environments where spread would be rapid or where the exposure to new variants is high," she said.

"In continuing the use of mandates in these limited areas, we did however want to ensure they are used carefully, so we've asked for health to come back with advice on whether the mandates applied in the health sector in particular, which covers thousands of workers, could be narrowed."

Ardern said given the adjustments the Government was making, the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) is working to update advice for the private sector on their use more broadly.

Asked by 1News if she stood by the need for mandates and if it was the most effective tool, given people had lost their jobs, Ardern replied: "We only ever did things that were necessary to enable us to get through this pandemic as safely as possible, and they worked. It's one of the reasons we have such a highly vaccinated country now and it's one of the reasons we're able to have the choices we have now too. I know it has been tough, but I still absolutely stand by the decisions that we've had to make."

National Covid-19 Response spokesperson said although the mandate announcements were positive, the Government should signal a timeline for abolishing the remaining mandates.

"Kiwis have done the right thing - 95 per cent of us are double vaccinated and over 70 per cent of the eligible population is boosted," he said.

"After two tough years, it's time to get back to normality and start thinking positively about the future."

ACT leader David Seymour felt vaccine passes and mandates should go immediately, not at 11.59pm on April 4.

"We've done the mahi, but we have to wait for visitors to arrive to get the treats. Waiting until April 5 for vaccine passes and mandates to go makes no sense," he said.

"Mandates and passes have segregated some people from society. ACT says it's time to move on, today. ACT has always said people should have been able to undergo regular testing as an alternative."