Covid 19 mandates: National's Chris Bishop says vaccine mandates for health workers should now go

National's Covid-19 spokesman Chris Bishop says it is now time to scrap the Covid-19 vaccine mandates in the public health sector and let unvaccinated nurses and midwives get back to work.

Bishop's call goes a step further than National Party leader Christopher Luxon's most recent comment on the issue a fortnight ago, when he said it was time for a "conversation" about ending the remaining health mandates.

He said the vast majority of health workers were vaccinated, and National believed people should get vaccinated.

"But we think the time for vaccine mandates in our health system is time to come to an end."

Bishop said the staff shortages in hospitals over winter were an extra reason to lift the mandate.

"We should essentially get rid of the mandates in our public health system for nurses and midwives, for example. We've got a desperate shortage of both and at a time when the health system is in real crisis and there is significant pressure on the system, to have a few hundred nurses and midwives simply not able to work because they are not vaccinated, or haven't had a booster, we don't think is a good enough reason."

He said it should be enough for unvaccinated workers to do rapid antigen tests before going to work instead.

"If you were a person in hospital or an ED, for example, waiting for treatment, if it was a choice between an unvaccinated nurse who passed a rapid antigen test treating you, or not getting seen at all, I think the vast majority of people would say 'you know what, I'm happy to be treated by an unvaccinated nurse'."

RNZ has reported that the College of Midwives chief executive Alison Eddy had written to ministers asking for the mandate on midwives to be reviewed.

The mandates still apply only in the health and disability sector and for international flight crew.

Epidemiologist Michael Baker has previously called for them to stay in place to protect health workers as much as patients, given they faced a higher risk of exposure to the virus.

Covid-19 Response Minister Ayesha Verrall has said she would keep the remaining mandates under review, and has already scrapped the mandates in areas such as education, defence, border workers and Corrections staff. However, a requirement for international flight crew to be vaccinated remains in place, the ministry citing the high infection risk and risk they would bring in new variants.

She has also removed the requirement for health-related workers who did not deal directly with the public or patients.

It still covers all those who deal with the public or patients – including doctors, nurses, and dentists – as well as other workers in places such as hospitals, doctor clinics, pharmacies, rest homes and disability residential centre. It also covers those such as midwives and carers who go to people's homes.

National had previously said they should be kept in place for a while after other mandates ended, but should be reviewed as the risk had changed.

Bishop said employers and companies should still have the ability to impose their own mandates, such as those in aged-care settings.