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'No jab, no job' for New Zealand health workers, teachers

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Agence France-Presse

<div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img alt="A medical worker administers a COVID-19 test during a lockdown to curb the spread of a coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak in Auckland, New Zealand, on August 26, 2021. Fiona Goodall, Reuters/File Photo" src="http://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2021/tvpatrol/10/11/medical-worker.jpg"/><figcaption>A medical worker administers a COVID-19 test during a lockdown to curb the spread of a coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak in Auckland, New Zealand, on August 26, 2021. <em>Fiona Goodall, Reuters/File Photo</em></figcaption></figure></div><p>New Zealand announced Monday a sweeping &quot;no jab, no job&quot; policy for most healthcare workers and teachers to prevent the spread of Covid-19.</p><p>&quot;We can&#x27;t leave anything to chance so that&#x27;s why we are making it mandatory,&quot; said Covid-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins, who is also the education minister.</p><p>Doctors, nurses and other frontline health workers must be double-jabbed by December 1 while everyone working in the education sector who has contact with students must have their two doses by January 1.</p><p>The Royal New Zealand College of General Practitioners backed mandatory vaccinations with president Samantha Murton describing it as a &quot;bold, but necessary call&quot; to make.</p><p>Secondary schools will also be required to keep a register to show the vaccination status of students.</p><p>&quot;Vaccination remains our strongest and most effective tool to protect against infection and disease,&quot; Hipkins said. </p><p>The order includes home-based educators and parents volunteering at schools, but no decision has been made on whether vaccination will be mandatory in the tertiary education sector.</p><p>Before the arrival of the Delta variant in August, New Zealand had won widespread praise for its Covid elimination policy, which had largely protected the country from the pandemic.</p><p>Residents enjoyed a near-normal domestic life alongside tight restrictions on international borders. </p><p>However, the &quot;Covid Zero&quot; strategy fell apart when Delta was detected in Auckland, New Zealand&#x27;s most populated region, and has since spread to the surrounding Northland and Waikato provinces.</p><p>Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said the highly transmissible Delta variant had proved a &quot;game-changer&quot; that could not be eliminated.</p><figure class="op-interactive"><iframe allow="autoplay; fullscreen" frameBorder="0" height="100%" id="ivsplayer01" scrolling="no" src="https://player.ivideosmart.com/ivsplayer/v4/dist/html/iframe-src.html?iframeid=ivsplayer01&amp;key=e8c22c015ca9eafa76f1e3edfa03c603&amp;spid=3001339&amp;vid=1710606" width="100%"></iframe></figure><div class="iwantbar">Watch more in <a href="//www.iwantv.com.ph/">iWantv</a> or <a href="//tfc.tv/">TFC.tv</a></div>

Secondary schools will also be required to keep a register to show the vaccination status of students.