Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has set out a plan to start re-opening the borders, starting with a trial this year of home isolation or shorter MIQ stays for selected travellers
The National Party is calling on the Government to set a vaccination target which the "team of 5 million" could rally behind.
It comes as the Government today unveiled the staged reopening of "Fortress New Zealand", including a trial this year of home isolation and shorter MIQ stays for selected travellers.
That would be followed by the phased resumption of quarantine-free travel from the first quarter of next year.
The plan would eventually involve three "pathways of travel" into New Zealand based on levels of risk, prioritising vaccinated travellers.
National Party leader Judith Collins said the announcements were a step in the right direction, but it all hinged on a successful vaccination campaign.
Currently about 20 per cent of the eligible population - those aged over 16 - are fully vaccinated.
The Government aims to have every eligible person have the opportunity to be vaccinated by the end of the year, which could include children if approved.
To achieve this, Collins said there should be a target the "team of 5 million" could mobilise behind.
"We continue to call for a formal ambitious vaccination target or range of targets.
"A target would encourage uptake by mobilising the team of five million to come together behind a common goal.
"It would focus the system on achieving that target and hold the Government to account for reaching it, or not reaching it."
National Covid-19 spokesman Chris Bishop. Photo / Mark Mitchell
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said she was against setting a target, rather saying they were aiming for a "high rate".
The Covid-19 health advisory group report, upon which most of the today's announcements were based, advised against an overall target, rather aiming for getting everybody vaccinated.
They also argued a broad target did not necessarily give them the population-specific information they needed to know. Rather they suggested targeting priority groups and having good regional data to identify any potential missed areas.
National's Covid-19 spokesman Chris Bishop said said he agreed with those points, but believed having an overall target as well would provide the country something they could rally behind.
"The Prime Minister needs to be more detailed than a 'high rate'.
"I believe we will get to 60 per cent, but that won't be enough to open the border."
Bishop said there should be a target set nationally, as well as for the regional spread, it be well communicated, and what it means in terms of getting the border open.
"Then let's get the country behind it. Let's put the team of 5 million to work, run telethon-style ads on TV, make sure people know we are going for a target and what that means in terms of getting the border open.
"We saw it last year, the collective energy of the team of 5 million got us through that together. We know there are good times on the horizon, freedom of leaving and coming home to New Zealand. There are good times ahead and we can get there together.
"The Government does not like targets, because when they set them they don't achieve them, and I suspect this is the same."
Bishop said he was not sure exactly what the target should be, but that would be guided by health experts.
Based on the current expert advice we shouldn't be reopening until we are at at least 80 to 85 per cent, he said.
Bishop said they also wanted to see incentives brought in - as had been successfully overseas - and more GP and community-focused approaches.
"People trust their GPs. We also need to go where the people are, work with community groups, with churches, those with high trust. And third, even go door to door."
The party also supported all eligible Kiwis having opportunity to receive the vaccine from September 1, and changing the default spacing of the Pfizer doses from three weeks to six weeks.
Collins said the Government needed to work faster on rolling out the vaccine to children aged 12 and above, as other countries were doing.
"Vaccinations in schools should occur before the school year ends; the Government should start the planning for this."
She also called on the Government to order Pfizer booster shots for next year, despite many other countries ordering hundreds of millions of doses.
Act Party leader David Seymour said today's announcement was a step in the right direction.
However, he said the Government had taken too long, and should look into private managed isolation systems for low-risk travellers to increase the amount of people able to come through.
"The Government's announcement that low-risk travellers might be able to enter the country without MIQ sometime in 2022 will sound like a distant dream for separated families and struggling businesses."
Industry responses
Business
Auckland Business Chamber said businesses would be looking at greater prioritisation for business travellers needing MIQ spots and vaccinated workers with "desperately' needed" essential skills.
"Business also must be told the operating conditions, movement restrictions and financial support that will apply if and when there are snap lockdowns so that not only people's health but jobs, livelihoods and the economy do not lose the gains achieved to date through the elimination strategy," chief executive Michael Barnett said.
Julia Albrecht, from the University of Otago Department of Tourism, said the sector needed specific dates for the re-opening plan.
"Re-opening the sector to international visitors will require businesses to plan advance in terms of the product range that will be offered, capacities, and (importantly) staffing. But we also know that there is no such planning security at this stage, and the Australia bubble has shown that travel arrangements may be in flux for a while now."
Queenstown Lakes District mayor Jim Boult encourages employers to assist staff in making time to get vaccinated.
"Our district, and others in New Zealand, are highly reliant on tourism and today's announcements are certainly a light at the end of a very long tunnel. Teamwork has never been so necessary and perhaps early next year, never so rewarding."
Health experts
University of Otago public health professor Nick Wilson said New Zealand should be moving much faster on vaccinating 12 to 15-year-olds and there should be urgent prioritisation of all essential workers for vaccination in Groups 3 and 4.
University of Canterbury professor Michael Plank agrees.
"A crucial question is whether border relaxation will happen before we have vaccinated children under 16. If it does, we will almost certainly see outbreaks spreading through schools. "
