Nikki Peers closed her Whangārei home-based education business Zero2Hero in December when the vaccine mandate was introduced. Photo / Michael Cunningham
Nikki Peers closed her Whangārei home-based education business Zero2Hero in December when the vaccine mandate was introduced. Photo / Michael Cunningham
The vaccine mandates for education lasted less than five months but resulted in at least 200 employees leaving the sector in Northland.
Staff shortages soon followed - as did the announcement the mandates would be obsolete come 11.59pm on April 4.
All early learning services, schools and kura employees willno longer have to be vaccinated against Covid to work with children or students, or on-site where they may be present.
Nikki Peers closed her Whangārei home-based education business Zero2Hero in December. Although she could still go back to teaching, her business was gone.
"...a teaching job, sure, but that is not what I want to do. It is too late now, the damage is done."
When the mandate was introduced the home-based education centre went from seven educators to three.
Back2Nature director and teacher Jenny Hamilton said one of their four teachers and seven of their 25 educators, as well as around 25 students, left because of the mandate.
"We already have teachers and educators who are excited to come back," she said.
"Some won't be coming back. They have made a pivot in their lives and now they have set themselves in a different capacity. Some are doing online tutoring, some have changed their lifestyle so they don't rely on that income anymore."
Back2Nature director and teacher Jenny Hamilton welcomes the removal of vaccine mandates from the education sector. Photo / Michael Cunningham
An ECE teacher, who wishes to remain anonymous, took stress leave in November last year. Between losing her job - which eventually happened - and taking the vaccine, she was more terrified of the latter.
"The mandates have not gone, they have been lifted for the time being and that is what worries me," she said.
She rejected the idea that the mandate was about the moral obligation teachers had to protect the health and safety of children at school, saying it was only about "coercion".
She participated in the 23-day anti-mandate protest on Parliament's lawn, which she described as the "most beautiful experience of unity, sharing and support".
"I think rather than locking everyone down or wearing masks, if a child does come to school with a grubby nose, they should just be sent home and that does not mean all kids need to be [vaccinated]. They need to be educated on how to prevent it."
She felt the Government had crippled the country by creating division and anxiety.
Education Ministry figures indicated 6.7 per cent of Northland school teachers, 159 people, had refused the Covid vaccination.
The removal of the vaccine mandates after less than six months may leave some questioning what the point was.
Michael Plank from the University of Canterbury and Covid-19 Modelling Aotearoa said Omicron was the game-changer.
Plank said the vaccine was still the most important tool of protection from becoming severely ill with Covid-19, but it did not prevent from catching Omicron so the mandates were not "as effective" as they were a few months ago.
"At the time, vaccines were not yet available for children under the age of 12. They had no protection at all from unvaccinated people at school, which certainly increased the risk of transmission for children, especially during the Delta period.
"We do not know how many decisions were influenced because of the vaccine mandate, but it was quite significant and, in its absence, we might not have ended up with a high vaccination rate."
Plank was concerned some education staff remained unvaccinated.
"That said, I don't think it is a very high risk in schools and other environments with kids now because those children can now catch it off vaccinated people as well."
He said we still needed to minimise the risks of Covid transmissions in schools by using good ventilation, masks, sanitisers and other Covid safety protocols.
"Removal of vaccine mandates now would not have any bigger implications on Northland, the cases will continue to rise regardless."
However, Plank emphasised unvaccinated people were still at much higher risk of hospitalisation and death because of Covid-19.
