Unvaccinated caregivers and teachers will not be able to practice

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, that’s why we make it mandatoryChris Hepkins, the minister responsible for combating the coronavirus, who is also the education minister, said. 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.

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The Royal New Zealand College of General Practitioners supports compulsory vaccination, and its president, Samantha Morton, has called the measure “Bold but necessary». «Vaccination remains the most effective tool we have to protect us from pollution and diseaseChris Hepkins said. For months, the archipelago has been shielded from epidemic, notably due to strict border measures.

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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 strategy “zero covidThe continuation of the archipelago did not make it possible to stop the spread of the virus.