Luke Kirkness: After our virus response, New Zealand is the country of opportunities

A small town in Otago boasts of itself as "the town of opportunities".

If you've ever been to Milton, you might agree with me that whoever was in charge of penning the slogan was surely having a laugh.

The reason I bring it up is I believe New Zealand tourism operators should grab that slogan with both hands.

There have been some questionable decisions and we've been dealt a great deal of luck, but we've generally been well led through the pandemic, in my view.

There hasn't been a great loss of life and most people have been able to enjoy a semi-normal life with few lockdowns.

The country is nearing a major shift in our Covid-19 response — an end to lockdowns for good.

When our tourism industry benefits, the entire country benefits. Photo / George Novak

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern last week reiterated lockdowns were never thought to be a long-term solution to keeping Covid-19 at bay.

It couldn't be timelier, with an increase in reports of absconding from Auckland's level 4 conditions lately.

There will be some relief in the City of Sails this morning, however, as they wake up in level 3.

And although the rest of the country will remain at level 2 until Auckland's alert level reduces again, the change is still a morale booster in our region.

In Rotorua, Matai Restaurant owner Ryan Gregorash says people will feel safer and more secure knowing health officials are confident Auckland can move out of its harsh lockdown.

Tauranga economic development agency Priority One chief executive Nigel Tutt says it's vitally important the nation gets to level 1 for summer, allowing events to happen again.

So, what's the next step?

New Zealand is the country of opportunities after our hard work during the pandemic response. Photo / Supplied

There is a major push for as many people to get the vaccine as possible, with NZME and its newspapers, like this one, pushing for at least 90 per cent full vaccination against Covid-19 in our eligible population by Christmas.

A very high vaccination rate is vital for us to make our population safe, keep our hospitals running and gradually allow our economy and border to open to the world again.

We are well on our way, with more than 70 per cent of eligible people having had at least one dose.

We were the team of 5 million who locked down together and now we need to be the team who gets vaccinated together.

With every new person vaccinated, we creep closer to freedom, and closer to being able to welcome the world back to our country of opportunities.