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Hundreds of thousands of Kiwis who do not yet have both doses of the Covid-19 vaccine face a tightening of their freedoms on December 3, when the Government moves the entire country into the new ‘‘traffic light’’ system.

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced the date yesterday, saying Covid-19 was not going to be eradicated from New Zealand.

‘‘The hard truth is that Delta is here and not going away,’’ Ardern said.

While Aucklanders will finally see an end to New Zealand’s longest lockdown, those in other parts of the country could face far more restrictions if they have not been fully vaccinated.

Hospitality venues and closecontact businesses like bars and gyms will be able to stop those who are unvaccinated from entering their premises, and will gain far greater freedom to operate if they do so, with no capacity limits or seating requirement.

‘‘The key difference between the two systems is that vaccine passes will shortly be required at places like bars, gyms and restaurants,’’ Ardern said.

Other events like large festivals and concerts will be required to use vaccine certificates. Questions remain over events like school fairs and galas, which would not easily be able to check vaccine passes.

Restaurant Association head Marisa Bidois said a survey the group had carried out suggested a strong majority of restaurants and cafes were looking to implement vaccine passes.

‘‘We have had some recent surveys that tell us that the majority of the industry are looking to implement some sort of passport. There is still around 30 to 35 per cent who say they are undecided or will not.’’

Bidois said the businesses that

opted not to were generally not in Auckland.

Under the ‘‘red’’ traffic light Auckland will start out with cafes and restaurants that do not use vaccine passes will only be able to operate contactless – meaning pickups and deliveries.

She said the industry still had questions about how the vaccine passes would work in practice, but the Government had promised more information this week and businesses in Auckland were keen to open as soon as possible.

An app to check vaccine certificates will be launched today.

Hundreds of thousands of Kiwis aged 12 or over have still not have both doses of the vaccine.

As of midnight on Sunday 3.51 million Kiwis have had both doses – about 81 per cent of the Statistics New Zealand estimate of 12+ population, which is 4.34m people.

More than 1 million Kiwis have already downloaded a vaccine pass.

National’s Covid-19 spokesman Chris Bishop said the definite day would hopefully spur some Kiwis into getting their jab.

He said every day counted for Auckland businesses keen to open and the Government needed to provide greater clarity over what the triggers would be for the different ‘‘colours’’ in the system.

‘‘We need a lot more clarity over that. What’s red, what’s green, what’s orange.’’

Auckland will start in red, while no region will start in green. The Government has indicated some areas with particularly low vaccine rates will start in red too, but has not set an exact line.

Ardern backed down on a 90 per cent double vaccinate target for each district health board for the system to start after it became clear that target would not be reached until January – if at all.

National has also criticised the Government for rushing through the law to enable the new system.

Ardern defended that move yesterday, saying the system had been widely discussed and consulted on for months.