Editorial: Clearer messaging and more detail please, on where we are going with Covid

Maybe Kiwis will soon be able to get on board for quarantine-free flights to and from Australia. Photo / AP

Opinion

OPINION

New Zealanders are expected tomorrow to get a date for the start of a transtasman travel bubble.

Whatever the date is, there will most likely be time built in for more planning and preparation before it actually gets under way.

What would be equally as welcome is more detail and a timeframe on the country's overall way out of its wider international seclusion. Because that also calls for transparent planning and preparation before it eventually happens.

Providing a basic road map for how it is likely to pan out would be useful in different ways, not least psychologically. People want to know what they're going to be able to do.

Yesterday's news that tourism could take years to fully recover may be realistic but isn't encouraging.

What people need to hear are the inbetween steps we can mentally tick off on the way. A long walk is easier to manage if you think of it in stages. Businesses want to survive to eventually thrive.

No one knows for sure how long Covid-19 will remain a major threat. The Government has rightly been cautious, for the overall good of the country.

But vaccinations are changing the field, and that provides governments with a key planning tool. Tomorrow is an opportunity to set a new course in a positive way.

We are not in the same situation as last year, even if countries around the world are battling infection spikes and rollout logistical challenges. Vaccination offers a strong layer of protection.

Taking advantage of that knowledge by shifting to a pandemic response that allows for some personal choice and risk requires clarity in messaging from the authorities and groundwork in getting the public used to changes.

At present we know the broad vaccination rollout sequence, and that at least 66,000 people have received shots. Yet most of us only have a general idea of when we will get it. We don't know its impact on our work practises and family situations.

Thanks to the travel bubble, we know that soon flying "over seas" will once again mean more than just hopping over Cook Strait.

That's the type of imperfect but manageable progress that should be possible this year.

Once the country's vaccination rollout is completed there will be less appetite for closed borders. If the moat still can't be completely drained by then, a more flexible and realistic system should be in place for next year.

With vaccination, could more migrants, foreign students and some tourists other than Australians come in before border reopening? Should vaccination be enough to allow quarantine-free travel holidays to anywhere?

We do have a huge advantages of being in control of entry points, being geographically remote and having only a small population to vaccinate.

The United States has had an effective vaccine programme so far but even with more than 100 million people receiving at least one shot, that's only 30 per cent of its target.

At the weekend, the US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention said fully vaccinated people can travel within the country without getting tested or going into quarantine afterwards because of their "lower risk".

The CDC plans to update its guidance on allowed activities for vaccinated people as more people get jabs and evidence grows about vaccine effectiveness.

Some clear outlining of where we are headed would be welcome here, too.