The ACT Party has moved to call an immediate end to vaccine mandates in its latest Covid-19 policy release.
David Seymour Photo: RNZ / Angus Dreaver
Party Leader David Seymour this morning unveiled the fourth in a series of policy documents outlining ACT's proposals to respond to the pandemic.
The latest policy argues the benefits of introducing mandates to protect the health system have now reached a saturation point, calls for contact tracing to be ended and the requirement for businesses to display QR codes and have people scan them removed.
It also calls for the government to immediately end managed isolation and quarantine (MIQ) and open borders with the same self-isolation requirements as domestic cases of Covid-19.
However, it suggests mask wearing and the booster rollout should be retained, because they offer more benefits than the cost.
"It's time to move on from fear and take back control of our lives from unending government restrictions," Seymour said.
"Fatigue is setting in after nearly two years of restrictions. There's a growing appetite for an end to government controls in favour of freedom... Omicron is a 'whole new virus' and as such requires different policy responses."
He said the high infectiousness of Omicron meant preventing the spread was more costly, and the lower rate of hospitalisation meant the benefits of curbing the spread were smaller than with Delta and other variants.
He called for the government to perform a cost-benefit analysis of its various Covid-19 interventions, saying the current settings were a "mish-mash of rules that don't make sense".
The government is widely expected this afternoon to announce a shift to phase three of its Omicron response plan, which would reduce the reliance on contact tracing and PCR testing in favour of self-identification and rapid antigen tests - which are self-administered.
Moves are also afoot to progressively end MIQ for incoming travellers, reserving quarantine for unvaccinated travellers and community cases who cannot isolate at home.
The government has argued opening the borders all at once and relying on self-isolation poses a risk of rapidly seeding many more cases of Covid-19 into the community, increasing spread at a time when Omicron is already spreading rapidly and leading to more people going into hospital.
Nurses have already been working overtime and doctors have warned General Practices are at crisis point.
Emergency departments have also become clogged enough that patients are left waiting in corridors, with ED stays lasting up to 36 hours.