Covid-19 Omicron: Border opening and future of MIQ to be revealed

When New Zealand’s border will open, the future of the embattled managed isolation and quarantine (MIQ) system and the Government’s economic priorities as it enters the third year of the pandemic will be outlined by Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern today.

It comes on the back of moves to accelerate the Covid-19 booster roll-out, with the interval from the primary doses cut to three months - allowing an extra one million people to be vaccinated from Friday.

Ardern will outline the Government’s plans to open the borders at 11am in Auckland. Speaking on Wednesday, she said people stuck overseas and unable to get a place in the MIQ lottery “won’t have to rely on MIQ in the same way”.

“As Covid changes, we are, and in a way that continues to look after our whole population,” she said at the Ministry of Health in Wellington.

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“Omicron is having a huge impact around everywhere, very few countries are being spared from it and we need to make sure we have a system that actually says what’s the risk from overseas relative to New Zealand."

Omicron’s arrival pushed out plans for a phased border reopening – due to start in January – to the end of February.

Ministers have been reviewing the dates while MIQ has faced unprecedented pressure, with dozens of Omicron cases found at the border daily while community cases rise.

The highly infectious Covid-19 variant has become the dominant strain after transmitting in the community for only a month and modellers have warned daily Omicron cases could number 400 by the end of the week.

There were 142 community cases reported on Wednesday and 54 cases at the border.

The number of people eligible from Friday for the booster includes an extra 100,000 Māori, increasing eligibility as a group by 59 per cent and an extra 52,000 Pasifika people, a 47 per cent increase.

Overall, about 3.06 million people will be eligible for their booster dose.

Ardern said the change would kick in from Friday because staff needed time to change the online booking system to accommodate the shorter timeframe.

“We are also, relative to other countries, still early on in the Omicron outbreak - 140 cases a day - now while we can expect that to increase there is still time for people to go and get their booster in the coming week and have the benefit of that booster for the outbreak.”

Director General of Health Dr Ashley Bloomfield said other countries had reduced the interval between primary vaccine doses and boosters in the midst of a widespread Omicron outbreak, but New Zealand was acting early.

“Now is the right time, we have got the scientific advice, teams have worked hard to make sure we have got the vaccine out there and ready to roll.”