Commissioners also say the vaccine requirements eroded public trust and call for investment to plan for the next pandemic

Summary

New Zealand’s royal commission into its Covid-19 response found vaccine mandates were reasonable based on available data but acknowledged they harmed social cohesion.

The report praised the country’s elimination strategy for achieving one of the lowest Covid death rates among developed nations while preventing healthcare system collapse.

However, it criticized prolonged lockdowns, weak health system preparedness, and a lack of planning for future crises.

Commissioners urged broad investment in pandemic readiness and emphasized the importance of both frontline and planning staff.

A second phase of the inquiry will review vaccine harms and conclude in 2026.

  • Karjalan@lemmy.world
    111·
    2 days ago

    NZ had relatively a very short lock down and were one of the few oecd countries that was back to regular life in 2020. Other than wearing masks in certain places you could go to restaurants, movies, regular shops etc.

    Eventually there was another lock down, for most of the country it was much shorter. One town had to go longer though cause they kept having cases pop up.

    • cashew@lemmy.world
      32·
      1 day ago

      The “one town” you’re referring to is Auckland, NZ’s economic center and has a third of the country’s population.

      Whenever I talk about COVID lockdown with NZers from outside of Auckland they play it down because there was only a few weeks of strict lockdown at the start. However, anyone that lived in the Auckland region can tell you that the lockdowns were long, tough and plentiful. People in Auckland were still stuck in their homes celebrating birthdays alone late 2021. Eventually the government gave up when the Omicron variant exploded and a majority had been vaccinated.

    • OccamsRazer@lemmy.world
      617·
      2 days ago

      Every article i can find discusses New Zealand having the longest-running and toughest covid restrictions in the world, pretty far from normal life. I remember them briefly easing restrictions in 2020, and it was widely celebrated as some kind of victory over covid, but it was short lived, and restrictions and mandates came right back stronger than ever.

      • Karjalan@lemmy.world
        123·
        2 days ago

        Well you’ve been reading incorrect.

        I live in NZ and was here all through covid. We had, outside Auckland, a total of 8 weeks lockdown, then some mild restrictions for a few weeks, then business as usual.

        Places like Melbourne and the UK had over a year of restrictions and many more months of lockdown

        • cashew@lemmy.world
          33·
          1 day ago

          You clearly do not live in Auckland then. The person you’re replying to is not incorrect, you were just fortunate to live in another part of the country.

          • Karjalan@lemmy.world
            31·
            23 hours ago

            I know Auckland lockdowns were longer and more difficult. But they are incorrect. They weren’t “the worst in the world”. Melbourne had the longest lockdowns in the world.

            Auckland had an extra 3-4 months than the rest of the country (for a total of about 6, but Melbourne had basically 9 months.