The Government has claimed New Zealand’s successful response to COVID-19 thus far has been because we went hard and early, so why has the message changed for vaccinations, Leader of the Opposition Judith Collins says.

“The Government has said manufacturers are focused on sending vaccinations to countries where thousands of people are dying every day, pushing New Zealand further down the queue.

“But that argument doesn’t wash when Singapore, who last recorded a COVID-19 death in November, has already begun vaccinating border workers.

“At the very least our Government should be making sure our frontline workers are vaccinated immediately, providing another layer of defence at our border.

“Vaccinating our border workers should be an immediate priority given how easily transmissible the new Covid variants are.

“The Government can’t afford to be complacent given the seriousness of the situation. We should be going hard and going early with vaccinating our border workers too.”