Commissioners also say the vaccine requirements eroded public trust and call for investment to plan for the next pandemic

Summary

New Zealand’s royal commission into its Covid-19 response found vaccine mandates were reasonable based on available data but acknowledged they harmed social cohesion.

The report praised the country’s elimination strategy for achieving one of the lowest Covid death rates among developed nations while preventing healthcare system collapse.

However, it criticized prolonged lockdowns, weak health system preparedness, and a lack of planning for future crises.

Commissioners urged broad investment in pandemic readiness and emphasized the importance of both frontline and planning staff.

A second phase of the inquiry will review vaccine harms and conclude in 2026.

  • Flying Squid@lemmy.world
    6712·
    17 days ago

    Having said that, the mandates that the government pursued were absolutely ruthless

    Good.

    and put in place at a time where efficacy was already reduced due to new variants.

    “Reduced” is not the same as “safe.”

    It did a lot of harm to society, and we still live with those consequences today.

    Like what? What horrible burden are you living with in New Zealand because of this?

    • VerticaGG@lemmy.blahaj.zone
      114·
      16 days ago

      Thank. You.

      Ez upvote holy fuck I’d trade places in a second as an anti-authoritarian, high-covid-risk person ill absolutely take that deal vs living in the land of the walking small pox blankets where the Small Business ™️ must flow.

      The absolute fucking gall of comparing that to the 14 characteristics of fascism. Must be nice to be so insulated.

    • cashew@lemmy.world
      36·
      16 days ago

      Massive mental health impacts for one. Did you live in Auckland throughout COVID? If not then I don’t think you can comment on this.

    • Noedel@lemmy.world
      614·
      16 days ago

      Why is it good they were ruthless? Did you live here? Do you know what happened? Is it based on science to force mandates on a population that’s already 95 percent vaccinated? Because it was definitely not what our Ministry of Health recommended…

      At the time the mandates were active, Auckland was 95 percent vaxed and rife with covid. At that stage, was it worth it telling five percent of the population they were not allowed to be anywhere but in a supermarket? Was it reasonable taking their jobs away from them? Did the costs outweigh the benefits?

      The government’s covid response did a lot of damage to NZ. My wife is a therapist and works with victims of sexual and domestic abuse. Turns out that locking people up with their abusers for months on end is… Very bad for people too.

      Vax mandates lead to a huge division in society, including racial and political divides. It will take a long time to recover from that.

      I’m not saying all lockdowns are bad, I’m not saying vaccines are bad, I’m saying there’s a cost benefit analysis to be made, and NZ definitely went above and beyond what was reasonable. Towards the end, cabinet kept going against ministry recommendations. Their covid response had become a political tool, not a response based on reason.

      • Flying Squid@lemmy.world
        117·
        16 days ago

        “My wife is a therapist, trust me bro” is not the evidentiary argument you seem to think it is.

          • Flying Squid@lemmy.world
            23·
            15 days ago

            You can tell me “trust me, bro” all you like and even get mad about it. It’s still not evidence. The fact that you seem unable to produce any actual evidence is quite telling.