Vaccine may not be the skip MIQ card

The Covid-19 vaccine continues to roll out overseas, but it’s not yet known whether those who receive it will be able to bypass managed isolation in New Zealand.

A Ministry of Health spokesperson said at this stage, the ministry can’t say what impact vaccines will have on New Zealand’s borders, or on mandatory isolation requirements.

Any changes will be put in place from the middle to the second half of next year, the ministry said.

Kylie Fisher, a Kiwi living in Vancouver, Canada, said she’s due to be vaccinated by April and is hoping to bypass the mandatory two-week isolation when she visits New Zealand in mid-2021.

Fisher, a teacher who has family in Pukekohe, said she is hoping to travel to New Zealand during the school break in Canada in July. She hasn’t been home in two years.

‘‘If something [could be done] like staying in isolation for three days to produce a negative test then let out, instead of staying the full two weeks – that would be great,’’ she said.

‘‘There isn’t any urgency to get home for us, but a lot of people in our community do have situations where they may need to come home.

‘‘It’s a waiting game now, to see what happens and what’s decided,’’ Fisher said.

A Managed Isolation and Quarantine spokesperson said at present, staying in managed isolation is a legal requirement under the Public Health Response Act 2020.

Speaking earlier to Radio New Zealand, the Government’s vaccine strategy taskforce chairman Ian Town said the effect of the vaccine in the medium to long term is yet to be seen.

It’s also not yet known how long the effects of the vaccine will last.

‘‘Now the phase three studies that are under way at the moment are examining that very carefully, so as we think about border management in the middle and second half of next year, those are things we will need to review.’’

Director-general of health Dr Ashley Bloomfield said border controls and the current elimination strategy will continue to serve New Zealanders going into 2021.

The Government is expected to provide more details of what a vaccine roll-out could look like here soon.