sharon sanders
Editor-in-Chief & President
hat tip Jason Gale
posted with permission
Ardern Says New Zealand Won’t Open Border to The World This Year
2021-01-26 03:50:06.321 GMT
By Matthew Brockett
(Bloomberg) -- New Zealand is likely to keep its border
closed to the world through most of 2021 amid uncertainty over
the rollout of Covid-19 vaccines, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern
said.
“We can expect our borders to be impacted for much of this
year,” Ardern told a news conference Tuesday in Wellington. “We
will continue to pursue 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 a risk at this stage.”
New Zealand’s success in combating the virus has allowed it
to lift restrictions and get its economy moving again much
sooner than initially expected, but the closed border is
decimating its tourism industry. While the government today
announced it expects to give regulatory approval for the
Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine next week, Ardern said mass immunization
will not begin until midyear and she was taking a “conservative”
approach to letting foreigners into the country again.
“For travel to restart we need one of two things,” she
said. “We either need the confidence that being vaccinated means
you don’t pass Covid-19 on to others -- and we don’t know that
yet -- or we need enough of our population to be vaccinated and
protected that people can safely re-enter New Zealand. Both
possibilities will take some time.”
Ardern sounded pessimistic on the possibility of a safe
travel zone with Australia any time soon. While talks would
continue, “it does look increasingly difficult at a country-by-
country level,” she said, adding “we haven’t ruled out the
possibility of state-by-state.”
Australia started allowing quarantine-free travel for New
Zealanders last year but suspended that this week when New
Zealand reported one case of Covid-19 in the community. Ardern
expressed disappointment at Australia’s decision. The case
involving a woman who tested positive after leaving managed
isolation is “well under control,” she said.
“If we are to enter into a Trans-Tasman bubble, we will
need to be able to give people confidence that we won’t see
closures at the borders that happen with very short notice over
incidents that we believe can be well managed domestically,” she
said.
New Zealand aims to begin immunizing workers at its managed
isolation facilities this quarter, but Ardern was unable to say
when the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine will arrive in the country. The
vaccine is expected to get to New Zealand around the same time
as it gets to Australia, which is slated for mid-to-late
February, she said.
“New Zealand will have its house in order so we will be
ready to receive, but ultimately we will be in the hands of
pharmaceutical companies’ delivery timelines,” Ardern said.
posted with permission
Ardern Says New Zealand Won’t Open Border to The World This Year
2021-01-26 03:50:06.321 GMT
By Matthew Brockett
(Bloomberg) -- New Zealand is likely to keep its border
closed to the world through most of 2021 amid uncertainty over
the rollout of Covid-19 vaccines, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern
said.
“We can expect our borders to be impacted for much of this
year,” Ardern told a news conference Tuesday in Wellington. “We
will continue to pursue 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 a risk at this stage.”
New Zealand’s success in combating the virus has allowed it
to lift restrictions and get its economy moving again much
sooner than initially expected, but the closed border is
decimating its tourism industry. While the government today
announced it expects to give regulatory approval for the
Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine next week, Ardern said mass immunization
will not begin until midyear and she was taking a “conservative”
approach to letting foreigners into the country again.
“For travel to restart we need one of two things,” she
said. “We either need the confidence that being vaccinated means
you don’t pass Covid-19 on to others -- and we don’t know that
yet -- or we need enough of our population to be vaccinated and
protected that people can safely re-enter New Zealand. Both
possibilities will take some time.”
Ardern sounded pessimistic on the possibility of a safe
travel zone with Australia any time soon. While talks would
continue, “it does look increasingly difficult at a country-by-
country level,” she said, adding “we haven’t ruled out the
possibility of state-by-state.”
Australia started allowing quarantine-free travel for New
Zealanders last year but suspended that this week when New
Zealand reported one case of Covid-19 in the community. Ardern
expressed disappointment at Australia’s decision. The case
involving a woman who tested positive after leaving managed
isolation is “well under control,” she said.
“If we are to enter into a Trans-Tasman bubble, we will
need to be able to give people confidence that we won’t see
closures at the borders that happen with very short notice over
incidents that we believe can be well managed domestically,” she
said.
New Zealand aims to begin immunizing workers at its managed
isolation facilities this quarter, but Ardern was unable to say
when the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine will arrive in the country. The
vaccine is expected to get to New Zealand around the same time
as it gets to Australia, which is slated for mid-to-late
February, she said.
“New Zealand will have its house in order so we will be
ready to receive, but ultimately we will be in the hands of
pharmaceutical companies’ delivery timelines,” Ardern said.