Jacinda Ardern, January 26th. Ardern said mass vaccination would not begin until mid-year and was taking a “conservative” approach to letting foreigners back into the country.
Photographer: Hagen Hopkins / Getty Images
Photographer: Hagen Hopkins / Getty Images
New Zealand is likely to keep its border closed to the world for most of 2021 amid uncertainty over the launch of Covid-19 vaccines, said Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern.
“We can expect our borders to be affected for much of this year,” Ardern said at a news conference Tuesday in Wellington. “We will continue to chase travel bubbles with Australia and the Pacific, but the rest of the world simply poses too great a risk to our health and our economy to take risks at this stage.”
New Zealand’s success in fighting the virus has allowed it to lift restrictions and get its economy moving again much earlier than initially planned, but the closed border is decimating its tourism industry. Although the government has announced today that it hopes to give after regulatory approval of the Pfizer / BioNTech vaccine next week, Ardern said mass vaccination would not begin until mid-year and was taking a “conservative” approach to letting foreigners back into the country.
“To restart travel we need one of two things,” he said. “Either we need the confidence that vaccination means you won’t pass Covid-19 to other people, and we don’t know it yet, or we need enough vaccinated and protected population for people to re-enter New Zealand. Both possibilities will take a while “.
Ardern seemed pessimistic about the possibility of a safe travel zone with Australia soon. While talks would continue, “it seems increasingly difficult at the country-by-country level,” he said, adding that “we have not ruled out the possibility of a state by state.”
Australia began allowing quarantine-free travel to New Zealanders last year, but suspended it this week when New Zealand reported a case of Covid-19 to the community. Ardern expressed his disappointment at Australia’s decision. The case involving a woman who tested positive after leaving the isolation managed is “very controlled,” she said.
“If we want to get into a Trans-Tasmania bubble, we need to be able to give people confidence that we will not see border closures that occur with short notice for incidents that we believe can be managed well nationally,” she said.
New Zealand aims to start immunizing workers at its managed isolation facilities this quarter, but Ardern could not say when the Pfizer / BioNTech vaccine will arrive in the country. The vaccine is expected to arrive in New Zealand at the same time as Australia, which is scheduled for mid-to-late February, he said.
“New Zealand will have its home in order, so we will be ready to receive it, but ultimately we will be in the hands of pharmaceutical companies’ delivery deadlines, ”Ardern said.