‘THE HARDEST YEAR’
Ardern on dealing with the Delta variant, a vaccine pass and the next six months
So far, 2021 has been the “hardest year” of Covid, the Prime Minister says, but on Thursday she will give the first inklings of the rewards New Zealanders can expect as vaccination numbers rise.
In an extended interview with the Weekend Herald, Ardern spoke about the next six months, the plan to deal with Delta variant of the virus, and whether she would set a vaccinations target as other countries have done.
One thing Ardern ruled out was a vaccination pass within New Zealand — a system in which those with jabs would have more freedoms, such as access to restaurants and concerts, while the unvaccinated would not.
Australia is looking at giving vaccinated people greater freedoms than unvaccinated people once it hits 70 per cent threshold of vaccinations. It is also a measure being taken in France to allow vaccinated people a return to normal life without a new surge in Covid-19 cases. It is also expected to work as a way to get the hold-outs to go for vaccinations.
However, Ardern said she was not comfortable with such a step here even after the borders reopened and there was more risk of Covid.
“My hope is we have as many vaccinated individuals as possible and that we continue to move freely but people wouldn’t consider it freedom of movement if you’re only able to go and partake in activities if you’re vaccinated. That’s a very different style of approach.”
Ardern said she would prefer to address that risk at the border, rather than inside the country.
“Are there things you can do at the border to reduce this idea that there is an inevitability we will have people coming in with Covid? There are layers of protection we can bring in at the border to reduce that risk.
‘These are the things we’ve asked the experts about.”
She is looking at measures being taken in countries such as Iceland and Canada, which is allowing vaccinated people to travel across the border without quarantine. Those travellers are being tested and Ardern is watching the testing closely.
“That gives us a good insight into just what’s happening with transmission amongst vaccinated individuals.
“We have to think about what we might do in the future, based on things that would work for us.”
Covid Omnium, from sprint of 2020 to marathon of 2021
After getting a majority in the 2020 election for its Covid-19 handling, Labour has taken a bit of a buffeting in recent polls. The party dropped below the level at which it would be able to govern alone in both Colmar Brunton and Newshub Reid Research polls. The latter showed Labour’s support had dropped by almost two points to 43 per cent.
Ardern’s response to the drop was to say while most had thought 2020 would be the hard year, 2021 was turning out to be harder.
“In 2020, everyone knew we just had to knuckle down and get through this new extraordinary thing that was suddenly upon us. Someone described it to me as a bit of sprint in some ways.
“We got through that, and I think over summer there was a sense of relief that we’d got through the year, but now we are in 2021 and we are still running. We are now in this marathon.
“People just want to know when it’s going to feel normal again, and I totally understand that.”
It is, however, a question she can’t answer just now.
“We continue to be in an uncertain environment and we just don’t know what Covid will do next.
“But I do see light at the end of the tunnel.”
The next six months
Ardern will unveil more of her thinking on Thursday, along with a report on Reconnecting to the World,