Preflight test change on horizon
WELLINGTON: Scrapping predeparture tests will come ‘‘sooner rather than later’’, and more advice is being sought on whether people with adverse vaccine reactions could be exempt from workforce mandates.
Covid19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins said yesterday people could also expect to be able to receive a fourth vaccine dose within the next couple of months; the Grounded Kiwis court decision was unlikely to be appealed; and the full reopening of the international border was being delayed by visa processing, not public health concerns.
Mr Hipkins and directorgeneral of health Dr Ashley Bloomfield appeared before the Health Select Committee yesterday morning under questioning from opposition MPs.
When announcing the August reopening of the international border last week, the Government signalled the requirement for a predeparture test would be dropped by the time the border fully reopened.
Mr Hipkins told the committee that was likely to be sooner rather than later, but advice received so far suggested the policy was of significantly less benefit than it had been even two months ago.
‘‘It won’t be making a significant contribution to the rate of hospitalisation that we’re having at the moment,’’ he said.
Act New Zealand leader David Seymour was at the committee, and in a statement said the Government should immediately ditch predeparture tests.
‘‘Tourist operators say we’re not really open for business until we remove the friction from coming here,’’ he said.
‘‘We have got our assumptions back to front.
‘‘If the Government cannot justify restricting people, it should stop restricting them. If the minister can’t justify a reason for predeparture testing, it’s time to dump it.’’
He said people who were having costs imposed on them deserved a much sharper analysis of the costbenefit analysis.
Mr Hipkins said it was not unreasonable to want such analysis, but the Government still needed to consider the facts and what alternatives could be used.
‘‘If you were deciding where the best place to do testing is, it’s onarrival testing . . . because actually onarrival testing then gives you information you can follow up on.’’
The reasons for keeping the testing in place was based on statistical modelling on the effect of positive cases coming through the border, and he expected to get updated data on that soon.
Exactly when the requirement will be dropped is a decision linked to the planning for future variants. Mr Hipkins said that strategy was still being worked on.
He said the Government was unlikely to appeal the High Court’s ruling that the managed isolation and quarantine lottery system did not sufficiently allow individual circumstances to be considered and prioritised, but a final decision had not yet been made.
MIQ was considered unlikely to be needed at the same scale as it had been, and the winddown of the system was progressing well, but it could be stood up again if needed.
The border announcement last week, which sees nonvisawaiver countries able to apply from the end of July, was now more to do with the ability to process visas than any kind of public health pressure, he said.
‘‘To be fair, the immigration system was under pressure before Covid19 and . . . in the period just before we became the government . . .’’
Mr Hipkins said technical experts had indicated it would be best for people to have a fourth dose of the vaccine no earlier than six months after the third dose.
‘‘We’re preparing to make provision for that, so within the next couple of months people will be able to get that dose’’.
He had also asked for more advice on whether people who had adverse reactions to a vaccine should be granted an exemption from further vaccinations under the mandated workforce requirements.
He thought it was reasonable, for people who had severe reactions.
The number of people covered by the mandates was constantly shrinking, he said, and would continue to decrease over time. — RNZ