Port and air border workers will now be required to have the COVID-19 vaccine under new mandatory measures.
The Government has extended the mandatory order to cover a further 1800 active border workers who are still unvaccinated.
The new COVID-19 Public Health Response (Vaccinations) Amendment Order 2021 comes into effect at 11:59pm on July 14.
“To prevent the virus getting into our communities, we must continue to strengthen our border by protecting the people who work there,” COVID-19 response minister Chris Hipkins says.
The new legislation means port and air border workers will be required to be vaccinated just like workers at managed isolation and quarantine (MIQ) facilities.
“The vaccination of MIQ workers has been successful so far. Latest numbers show there were 4,332 MIQ workers on site for the week ending 4 July, all of whom were vaccinated. No unvaccinated worker can enter an MIQ facility.
“Of the active air border workers, 82 per cent are fully vaccinated and two per cent have received a single dose and await their second,” Hipkins says.
“However only 54 per cent of active port workers have been fully vaccinated, and we need to see this number increased to avoid the risk of COVID-19 entering the country via our ports.
“This is necessary to lift the uptake of the vaccine among the wider border workforce and strengthen our ongoing response to COVID-19,” he says.
The legislation allows for a “reasonable window” for vaccination. All government employees covered by the order must have had their first dose by August 26, while privately employed border workers must have had their first dose by September 30.
New workers covered by the order (regardless of employer) will need to have their first dose before starting work.
“Border workers who remain unvaccinated after the requirements come into effect will need to discuss options with their employer. They will not be able to continue working in a high-risk border environment until they are vaccinated,” Hipkins says.
The expanded order applies to people working at:
- MIQFs and MIFs (previously covered)
- airside area of affected airports and some other higher-risk work at airports
- affected ports
- accommodation services where specified aircrew members are self-isolating.
It also includes work:
- that involves handling affected items removed from ships, aircraft or MIQFs or MIFs, and
- where the job is for a company that is routinely engaged to provide services for an aircraft, ship, MIQF or MIF, and
- where the employee ‘has contact with’ people who belong to different groups in the order.
