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PM: NZ's borders likely to remain closed to most of the world all year

Author
NZ Herald,
Publish Date
Wed, 27 Jan 2021, 10:39AM
Photo / NZ Herald
Photo / NZ Herald

PM: NZ's borders likely to remain closed to most of the world all year

Author
NZ Herald,
Publish Date
Wed, 27 Jan 2021, 10:39AM

New Zealand's border personnel will be vaccinated against Covid-19 within three weeks of the first immunisation shipment reaching our shores, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern says.

But the country's borders are likely to remain closed to most of the world for the rest of the year, as reopening them poses "too great a risk to our health and economy".

Ardern said the first shipment of the Pfizer vaccine would be prioritised for those most at risk of coming into contact with the infection: our frontline border staff and those working in managed isolation.

"Once we receive it we expect to have our border workers vaccinated within two to three weeks," she said on an Instagram post last night.

At the same time the Government would continue to pursue travel bubbles with Australia and the Pacific – despite Australia suspending its one-way travel bubble with New Zealand after confirmation of the Northland community case.

This is something Ardern expressed her "disappointment" to Prime Minister Scott Morrison over, saying New Zealand's situation was "well under control".

But even Ardern admits that things aren't looking as good as they once were when it comes to a full travel bubble between the two countries.

"We are looking to pursue it," she told her post-Cabinet press conference on the bubble.

"[But] it does look increasingly difficult at a country-by-country level, we haven't ruled out the possibility of state-by-state."

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