Northern Advocate
  • Northern Advocate home
  • Latest news
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Sport
  • Property
  • Video
  • Death notices
  • Classifieds

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • On The Up
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology
  • Sport
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Residential property listings

Locations

  • Far North
  • Kaitaia
  • Kaikohe
  • Bay of Islands
  • Whangārei
  • Kaipara
  • Mangawhai
  • Dargaville

Media

  • Video
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-Editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

Weather

  • Kaitaia
  • Whangārei
  • Dargaville

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / Northern Advocate

Govt hints firefighter Covid vaccine mandate hitting Northland brigades hard could ease — but no date given

By Peter de Graaf
Reporter·Northern Advocate·
20 May, 2022 06:00 PM4 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

    Reminder, this is a Premium article and requires a subscription to read.

Northland firefighters are under pressure due to a high number of callouts combined with the loss of volunteers due to vaccine mandates. Photo / Peter de Graaf

Northland firefighters are under pressure due to a high number of callouts combined with the loss of volunteers due to vaccine mandates. Photo / Peter de Graaf



The Government is reviewing who is covered by the vaccination requirements which have led to more than 30 volunteer firefighters quitting in 10 Mid North brigades alone.

The hint that the rules could ease comes as Northland firefighters face huge pressure due to a high number of callouts combined with an exodus of volunteers due to vaccine mandates.

Last week the Advocate revealed some Northland firefighters feared they would no longer be able to respond to emergencies such as crashes and house fires once their brigades lost a second tranche of volunteers in coming weeks.

An informal survey of 10 Mid North brigades found 32 volunteers had left because they had not been vaccinated. More were set to go in May and June because they had been double-vaxxed but not boosted.

The Government's Covid-19 Health Order requires anyone working within 2m of a health professional for more than 15 minutes to be vaccinated. That has been applied to firefighters because they often work alongside ambulance staff.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Firefighters' first-dose deadline was November 29, with the second dose due by January 14. The booster deadline is six months after the second dose.

Time was expected to be up in May and June for most firefighters who haven't had the booster.

Ōkaihau and Kerikeri, which has so far lost seven volunteers with four more likely to go, are among the worst-hit brigades.

Following inquiries by the Advocate, Minister of Internal Affairs Jan Tinetti said the Government was currently considering refining the definitions in the Covid-19 Public Health Response (Vaccinations) Order 2021 with the intention of narrowing the roles it covered.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

"This may change how the Health Order impacts some operational Fire and Emergency personnel, both volunteer and career."

In the meantime firefighters had to keep complying with the Health Order, she said.

Discover more

Education

School principal goes door-knocking to fight student absenteeism

19 May 05:00 PM
New Zealand

'They have a right to feel safe at work': Firefighters and paramedics endure assaults

16 May 05:00 PM
New Zealand

Volunteer exodus due to vax mandate leaves stretched firefighters 'in despair'

11 May 05:00 PM
New Zealand

'Survival mode': Inquiry finds Omicron response put disabled people at risk

16 May 06:00 PM
As the Minister of Internal Affairs, Jan Tinetti's responsibilities include Fire and Emergency NZ. Photo / Mark Mitchell
As the Minister of Internal Affairs, Jan Tinetti's responsibilities include Fire and Emergency NZ. Photo / Mark Mitchell

Tinetti, who is responsible for Fire and Emergency NZ (FENZ), said the organisation had recently revised vaccination requirements for roles outside the Health Order.

That means unvaccinated personnel can attend fire stations for training or social occasions — but they can't go out on fire calls.

Tinetti said FENZ had robust contingency plans so fire brigades could respond to events as they arose.

Those plans included support from neighbouring brigades and relocation of resources.

FENZ had a process for re-engaging career firefighters who had left as a result of the Health Order. A similar process was being developed for volunteers, she said.

Tinetti said she had been advised by FENZ that 91 of its 10,211 volunteers had informed their chief fire officer they had resigned since the Health Order came into force.

"While a number of these may be for reasons related to compliance with the Health Order, volunteers do not always relay their reasons for leaving the organisation," she said.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

FENZ earlier told the Advocate the number of resignations Northland-wide was 10.

However, that is less than the number known to have left Kerikeri and Ōkaihau alone.

Last week FENZ Northland manager Wipari Henwood told the Advocate the situation was driving some firefighters to despair.

"Where there is despair it's because it's putting a lot of burden on the ones who are double-vaxxed and boosted ... there's more pressure on them to man the trucks and get out there and support the community," he said.

"The passion of the volunteers to support their community is still there but they feel like they have one hand tied behind their backs. They can't see an end in sight and that's driving some of the desperation."

A senior firefighter, who didn't want to be identified, told the Advocate there had already been incidents in recent months when larger brigades had to travel up to two hours each way to provide back-up for small brigades that were short on volunteers.

He feared soon even some of the larger brigades would be unable to respond.

"During the day, come the end of June, we may not be able to get a truck out the door. That's how serious it is."

He also worried about the strain on remaining firefighters and the effects on their jobs, families and mental health.

Save

    Share this article

    Reminder, this is a Premium article and requires a subscription to read.

Latest from Northern Advocate

Premium
Opinion

Opinion: Endless tourist tours are our modern purgatory

20 Jun 05:00 PM
Northern Advocate

Why kiwi deaths on roads highlight a conservation success story

20 Jun 02:00 AM
Northern Advocate

Rewi Spraggon explains Puanga, Matariki’s older brother

19 Jun 10:00 PM

Jono and Ben brew up a tea-fuelled adventure in Sri Lanka

sponsored
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from Northern Advocate

Premium
Opinion: Endless tourist tours are our modern purgatory

Opinion: Endless tourist tours are our modern purgatory

20 Jun 05:00 PM

Apparently elsewhere in Norway there’s a town called simply 'Hell'.

Why kiwi deaths on roads highlight a conservation success story

Why kiwi deaths on roads highlight a conservation success story

20 Jun 02:00 AM
Rewi Spraggon explains Puanga, Matariki’s older brother

Rewi Spraggon explains Puanga, Matariki’s older brother

19 Jun 10:00 PM
Our top Premium stories this year: Special offer for Herald, Viva, Listener

Our top Premium stories this year: Special offer for Herald, Viva, Listener

19 Jun 08:11 PM
Help for those helping hardest-hit
sponsored

Help for those helping hardest-hit

NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • The Northern Advocate e-edition
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Subscribe to the Northern Advocate
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • The Northern Advocate
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP