Unvaccinated caregivers and teachers will no longer be able to play sports in New Zealand
By Sudouest.fr with AFP
New Zealand makes vaccination mandatory for caregivers and teachers
New Zealand announced on Monday that most caregivers and teachers would not be able to do their jobs without receiving a Covid-19 vaccine.
“We can’t leave anything to chance, which is why we’re making it mandatory,” said Chris Hepkins, the minister in charge of fighting the coronavirus, who is also the education minister.
A ‘bold but necessary’ action
Doctors, nurses and other caregivers who are in direct contact with patients must be vaccinated before December 1. Education personnel in contact with students must have received two doses by January 1. The Royal New Zealand College of General Practitioners supports compulsory vaccination, and its president, Samantha Morton, described the move as “bold but necessary”.
“Vaccination remains the most effective tool we have to protect us from contamination and disease,” Chris Hepkins said.
For months, the archipelago has been shielded from epidemic, notably due to strict border measures. But the emergence of the highly contagious Delta type of coronavirus in Auckland in August was a game-changer and, despite containment measures, has spread to the neighboring counties of Northland and Waikato.
Last week, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern acknowledged that the archipelago’s “zero Covid” strategy had failed to stop the spread of the virus.
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