“Given the risks in the world around us and the uncertainty of the global introduction of the vaccine, we can expect our borders to be affected for much of this year,” Ardern said at a news conference.
To start again, authorities need confidence that the vaccinated Covid-19 will not be transmitted to others, which is not yet known, or that enough of the population will have to be vaccinated so that people can enter New Zealand safely.
But both possibilities will take a while, she said.
“In the meantime, we will continue to pursue travel bubbles with Australia and the Pacific, but the rest of the world simply poses too great a risk to our health and our economy to take the risk at this stage.”
The recent community incident in a woman who returned to New Zealand on December 30 and tested positive for the South African strain of the virus after leaving a mandatory two-week quarantine, led Australia to an immediate travel bubble with New Zealand suspended for 72. hours.
Ardern says the country’s drug regulator, Medsafe, is working to grant preliminary approval for the Pfizer Inc and BioNTech SE vaccine.
The first vaccines should arrive in New Zealand by the end of the first quarter, but the government wants everything in place in case of an earlier arrival.
Strong exclusion and geographical isolation have helped the 5 million country virtually eliminate the new coronavirus within its borders.
New Zealand reported two new cases of Covid-19 at its managed isolation facility on Tuesday and no new community cases. The country has 65 active cases, a total of 1,934 confirmed cases and 25 deaths.