The New Zealand government has signalled it is likely to block unvaccinated Australians from travelling under the trans-Tasman bubble — if and when it reopens.
Quarantine-free travel between the Bledisloe Cup rivals is currently on hold, as New Zealand attempts to keep the damaging Delta variant out.
Last month, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern popped the bubble for eight weeks until September 18, with a decision on reopening to come early next month.
Given case numbers in NSW and Kiwi fears around Delta, COVID-19 Minister Chris Hipkins said a bubble remodelling beckoned.
“It is unlikely that the trans-Tasman safe travel zone will simply reopen in exactly the same form as it was before all of this happened,” he said.
“Vaccines by that point will be more widely available on both sides of the Tasman.
“It may be that vaccinations become a prerequisite for non (NZ) citizen travel.”
Fortress New Zealand’ plan operating into 2022
The bubble change is foreshadowed in declassified documents commissioned by Ms Ardern’s government on NZ’s reopening to the world.
NZ hopes to vaccinate every consenting adult Kiwi this year, but the advice suggests the rollout could be less effective should a more damaging variant emerge.
“It is not inconceivable that, by the end of the year, there could be an established variant that is significantly resistant to the vaccine,” the advice states.
