Answers are needed from the Government about when Transmission Gully will be open to the public, National’s Transport spokesperson Simeon Brown says.

The Government continues to put at risk tens of millions of dollars’ worth of travel refunds whilst denying travel agents the support they need to get through the pandemic, National’s Tourism spokesperson Todd McClay says.

This morning, the Waitangi Tribunal released its report into the COVID-19 claim brought by the New Zealand Māori Council (NZMC). The report upholds the NZMC’s claim that the Government’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic breached the Treaty of Waitangi.

The Green Party is calling on the Government to prioritise Māori and Pasifika providers in the rollout of vaccinations to 5-11 year olds.

It’s good news that the Government has reduced the standard gap between the second dose and booster shots of the Pfizer vaccine from six months to four months, National’s COVID-19 Response spokesperson Chris Bishop says.

"The Government hasn’t a clue what to do about omicron, imposing a six-week delay on home isolation without explaining what will be better then," says ACT Leader David Seymour.

Parents and caregivers will have the opportunity to protect their children aged 5 to 11 against COVID-19 with the child version of the Pfizer vaccine, COVID-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins confirmed today.

The interval between the second dose and the booster shot reduced from 6 months to 4 months

Over 82 per cent of vaccinated New Zealanders eligible for a booster by end of Feb 2022

Eligible border and health workers required to get booster dose

"If the Government wants to buy time for Omicron, it needs to explain how much that time costs, who pays, and why it’ll be worthwhile," says ACT Leader David Seymour

As part of its budget update on Wednesday, Minister of Finance Grant Robertson announced that the Government has created a $4.5 billion Climate Emergency Response Fund (CERF) for the Budget 2022.