The Department of Internal Affairs

Te Tari Taiwhenua | Department of Internal Affairs

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Covid-19 Local Government Response Unit Update – Wednesday 1 December 2021

Local Government Response Unit main page

National State of Play

Vaccines for kids aged 5-11 could be rolled out by the end of January. An order has been placed with Pfizer, pending Medsafe approval.

An up-to-date summary of the COVID-19 Protection Framework is available in the following link COVID-19-Protection-Framework-traffic-lights-summary-table.pdf (covid19.govt.nz)

COVID-19 Protection Framework guidance for local government

Following the recently signed Health Order, we have updated the COVID-19 Protection Framework guidance for local government (PDF, 445KB). This guidance has been created to help the implementation of the COVID-19 Protection Framework. 

Key areas that have been updated since the previous version include:

  • information on settings for events and gatherings;
  • removal of the reference to outdoor community events (as these are covered by gathering settings); and
  • the approach to making decisions about vaccine passes, to better align with the Public Service Commission guidance.

This guidance has been created in collaboration with a group of chief executives on creating guidance for the implementation of the COVID-19 Protection Framework.

Thank you for your ongoing patience and support through this fast moving and challenging legislative environment.

If you have feedback on the guidance, please sent it through the LGCGcovid19response@dia.govt.nz inbox.

The COVID-19 Protection Framework Order, and the COVID-19 Vaccination Amendment Order have been published

The COVID-19 Public Health Response (Vaccinations) Amendment Order (No 6) 2021, and the COVID-19 Public Health Response (Protection Framework) Order 2021 were signed yesterday evening.

The COVID-19 Public Health Response (Vaccinations) Amendment Order (No 6) 2021 is available in the following link: COVID-19 Public Health Response (Vaccinations) Amendment Order (No 6) 2021 (SL 2021/385) – New Zealand Legislation.

The COVID-19 Public Health Response (Protection Framework) Order 2021 is available in the following link: COVID-19 Public Health Response (Protection Framework) Order 2021 (SL 2021/386) – New Zealand Legislation   .

Vaccinating pharmacies can now print vaccine passes

Over 400 COVID vaccinating pharmacies across the motu are now participating in generating vaccine passes for their customers as of last Friday, here is a list: https://www.healthpoint.co.nz/covid-19-vaccination/?primaryBranch=pharmacy.

To get your pass, head to a participating chemist with your NHI number (don’t worry if you don’t have it). No further formal ID is required. They will ask you to confirm your full name, date of birth and physical address.

Pharmacy staff will generate the vaccine pass directly from the COVID Immunisation Register, and will email the pass to you or print it out.

Ministry of Transport will temporarily service Land Transport Act notices electronically

Te Manatū Waka Ministry of Transport is working on some guidance for enforcement bodies regarding the temporary ability to service Land Transport Act notices electronically. These have come about as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

This guidance will be completed within the next few days. Once complete, we will circulate it through an update.

Information on current cases, COVID-19 test sites and economic support

There are 146 new cases of Covid-19 in the Delta community outbreak. There are new cases in Auckland (124), Waikato (14), Bay of Plenty (four) and one new case in Nelson-Tasman region. This is in addition to three reported in the Nelson region yesterday, which have formally been added to Wednesday’s tally.

There were 41,077 first and second vaccine doses administered yesterday, made up of 7,432 first doses, and 14,223 second doses. To date, 93% of eligible people in New Zealand have had their first dose and 86% are fully vaccinated.

Available testing sites can be found on the Ministry of Health website: Available testing sites.

Locations of interest can be found at Locations of Interest. This is being updated as soon as information is available.

Economic assistance is available for those impacted by the lockdown, more information available on the COVID-19 website , including details of the Business Boost package.

Taituarā’s webinar to discuss the COVID-19 Protection Framework guidance document

Taituarā is hosting a webinar to facilitate the application of the COVID-19 Protection Framework guidance. This webinar is on Thursday (2nd December) between 4-5:30pm.

All Chief Executives in the local government sector will receive an invitation to this webinar from Taituarā. This webinar has also been updated to include local government chairs and mayors.    

Please share with us your approaches towards the COVID-19 Protection Framework

We would like to know how councils are implementing the COVID-19 Protection Framework in their organisations and communities. This will help us to collate information, and build a resource that will assist consistency of application across the sector (shared approach) and inform our ongoing guidance development.

If you would like to share your council’s thinking and application of the new protection framework, please email them to us at LGCGcovid19response@dia.govt.nz.