(LifeSiteNews) — After two years of strict vaccine and mask mandates, New Zealand lifted nearly all restrictions related to COVID-19.
An announcement on Monday stated that punishing COVID shot requirements as well as the obligation to wear masks in public will be removed in two weeks.
“Today marks a milestone in our response,” Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said. “Finally, rather than feeling that COVID dictates what happens to us, our lives, and our futures, we take back control.”
“The most recent health advice now tells us that with the lowest cases and hospitalizations since February, our population well vaccinated, and expanded access to anti-viral medicines, New Zealand is in a position to move forward.”
While Ardern celebrated removing the harsh COVID restrictions as a sign of triumph over the apparent grip of the virus, data has long suggested that COVID-19 posed little to no health threat to the majority of the world’s population while an increasing number of reports conclude that COVID policies and mandates were not merely ineffective, but became a cause of harm.
A recent study published in the New England Journal of Medicine has suggested that the mRNA COVID shots are destroying natural immunity against the virus, while reports of adverse events following the reception of the jabs has topped 1,400,350 in the U.S., according to the Vaccine Adverse Events Reporting System, including 30,796 deaths.
Face mask use against COVID infection has also been criticized, with the world’s first large randomized control study on their use against the novel coronavirus determining any protection to be “not statistically significant.”
Although the evidence opposing COVID shot and face mask restrictions over the last two years has been clear, Ardern triumphally remarked that the country’s recent rule change has been made “with confidence knowing that we’re not going to use those measures in the future.”
According to the government website, “masks will not be required anywhere, except when visiting certain healthcare facilities like hospitals, GPs, pharmacies and aged care residential facilities.” The updated guidelines also state that “some places like workplaces” may request masks, and that they are only “recommended in confined places such as public transport or when visiting vulnerable people.”
“All remaining Government vaccine mandates will now end,” the page continues. This will take effect on September 26. Only those who test positive for the virus are required to isolate for a week.
Additionally, as of September 12, there are no longer vaccination or testing requirements for anyone entering the country. International travelers “will continue to receive free RATs [rapid antigen tests] at the airport and will be encouraged to test on day 0/1 and 5/6.”
Throughout the pandemic, New Zealand has been notorious for its harsh rules and restrictions to keep the virus at bay.
In August 2020, the country’s government set up “quarantine facilities” for anyone who tested positive for COVID-19, with the potential for including close relatives in the mandatory isolation quarters. A year later, New Zealand’s COVID-19 Response Minister epitomized the government’s intense pressure for every citizen to be vaccinated when he indicated the country’s leaders would need to “go out and find” anyone who had refused the shot.
Ardern also said that her campaign for vaccination would not cease “so long as there’s people who are eligible who haven’t been vaccinated.” She even went so far as to lead her country into another lockdown when a single positive case was reported in August 2021.
In February, some progress was made when New Zealand eventually allowed for the return of a pregnant journalist, who had previously been stranded in Afghanistan due to her home country’s relentless COVID restrictions. A major victory occurred in March when a court ruled that Christians were justified in their refusal to take vaccines that are connected to abortion.
While New Zealand eliminates its COVID guidelines, the U.S. and Canada continue to face mandates, such as unvaccinated Canadians being denied entry into the United States.
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