Why Andrew Little is really pouring cold water on Freedom Day
Coronavirus: Health Minister Andrew Little confirms November 29 is not ‘Freedom Day’
Bad news for Aucklanders expecting to escape the city before the end of this month – the Health MInister says the so-called ‘Freedom Day’ that’s been reported widely is nothing of the sort.
November 29 “is now circled on every desk and wall calendar in Auckland”, Newsroom reported this week, while Newstalk ZB reported “Ardern signalled the city’s own ‘freedom day’ is November 29” – and they weren’t the only ones.
And the Prime Minister this week said shifting all of New Zealand into the new traffic light framework when Auckland does “could play a role in helping us drive [vaccination] rates up”, ending alert level and travel restrictions nationwide.
“Most DHBs are rapidly getting there,” Health Minister Andrew Little told Newshub Nation on Saturday.
“In fact, we expect the Auckland DHBs to exceed that. The payback for getting to that level of vaccination – which would be one of the leading levels in the world – is that we do start to reduce restrictions.”
But that’s absolutely not going to happen on November 29, he said.
“Not at all… You might have misunderstood what the Prime Minister has been saying,” he told host Simon Shepherd.
“The Prime Minister said on the 29th of November, Cabinet will do a significant check-in on the state of the system… as we start to make decisions about the introduction of of the COVID Protection Framework – the traffic light system.
This is so disingenuous.
Technically what Little is saying here is true, the Government stated right at the beginning that November 29th was a decision day but I’ve watched journalist after journalist say ‘Freedom Day’ to the Prime Minister and she cocks her head to one side, pulls that concerned face and then nods without correcting that view.
Labour have been happy to allow that misrepresentation to dominate headlines because it calms the angry hobbits down.
The real reason why we will still be under de facto house arrest on the 29th November is because the vaccination passports are still not ready.
There has been 4 different dates as to when we can get our vaccination passports.
First it was mid November.
Then it was the end of November.
Then it was early December.
Now it’s back to mid November but I’m guessing that will become end of November.
The system already looks buggered.
Many, many, many New Zealanders don’t have a drivers license or passport so they will have to apply elsewhere which of course will see people not get their passports despite having been in de facto house arrest for what will be 4 months.
If the Government fuck up the vaccination passports, anxious people desperate to get their life back are going to lose their shit.
This could be the straw that breaks Labour’s back.
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As today is the 15th with no sign whatsoever of vaccine passports, my pick is that the middle of December will occur and we will still be being told of development issues and other reasons why the system will not be ready until the end of December. This is yet another example of a promise with no delivery by this Government.
You need to define passport.
If you are talking an app “passport”, then it is worse than any of the 4 dates you quote above.
Refer to the (subscription required) 5 November article in businessdesk, penned by Henry Burrell:
Dreyer (MOH group manager of national digital services) said in October smartphone apps for individuals to use for their vaccine certificates would be ready in January at the earliest.
I’m guessing most of us have received an email from the MOH, instructing us to put a code “in the text box”.
That only works on a desktop, not that they tell you this. There is no text box on your phone. And if you can’t work out out, you probably won’t bother.
Without it the whole linking in of MOH held details on you is likely to not work. Which I am second guessing will mean drama’s with the passport.
If this is a portent of things to come, it’s in for an epic failure.
And yes, Aucklanders will lose their shit! Justifiably.
Won’t be surprised if Auckland is coming to the rest of NZ/AO ready or not on 29/11/21 !
It is not hard to see that Andrew is lining Jacinda up for a fall. .It has taken time but payback is best served cold . Winston was a past master of this Utu .
Fuck Freedom Day. Aucklanders need to stay home.
Evidently some Jafas just can’t wait for ‘freedom’ day. I imagine a brave few will soon be camping out at the border, taking a dump on the side of the road, desperate to taste the sweet smell of “freedom”.
But what is this freedom ? Among other thing’s its the freedom to leave covid ground zero and potentially infect every nook and cranny of Aotearoa. Including low vax areas with vulnerable populations.
I don’t care if said Jafas have a vaccine passport. Vaccinated individuals can and do host and transmit the virus. Science says so. They might themselves be safe from serious illness by vaccination, but whanau they rub shoulders with at Christmas might not. So they should stay home, not for themselves, but for their neighbours. If they care for others and trust the science that is.
Vaccination works alongside appropriate public health measures, like the border that protected the rest of aotearoa from the covid breakout in Auckland. It doesn’t work so well when you dismantle those same basic public health measures, like Freedom day will do.
Freeing the Auckland populace is like sending smallpox infected blankets to Maori communities around the motu. Meanwhile Dr Ashley Bloomfeld is on his high horse garotting the champions of Maori health with red tape. Fuck. Off.
People willing to risk infecting our remote communities because they just can’t wait for vaccination to achieve equitable coverage for all are a clear and present danger to vulnerable populations throughout Aotearoa. To those people I have a message:
Put your mask on and stay home. And if f Christmas makes you “lose your shit”…go fuck yourself.