Travellers around the world are now keen to find out if, when, and where they can travel abroad. Travel restrictions are in place at the border. Singapore is slowly opening its borders to foreign visitors. The company, a Belgium-based division of Johnson & Johnson, is conducting a substantial phase 3 (or final stage) trial of 60,000 people and the vaccine technology uses a method with a strong safety record in other diseases. Fiji has put its hand up to join New Zealand and Australia's travel bubble amid the Covid-19 pandemic. One of the terms you are about to hear a lot about in 2021 is “herd immunity”. However, with fresh outbreaks in New South Wales and Victoria, a travel bubble may not eventuate. The Remarkables in … New Zealand has so far been silent on a date. New Zealand is a global leader in its elimination strategy. So there is a slim but growing chance that tourism providers will have to wait for the vaccine rollout to be complete before any international tourists arrive. Another third scenario could involve not enough vaccine arriving in 2021, and herd immunity only being achieved sometime in 2022. Covid crackdown: Most travellers to NZ will require pre-departure... Twitter quietly purges hundreds of mainly... Facebook cracking down on hate pages as well... Heather du Plessis-Allan: The PM has no choice but to rule Chris Liddell out, Mike's Minute: Banning Trump a symptom of something worse, Jacinda Ardern: NZ needs certain level of herd immunity before border restrictions eased. The nine ultra-cold freezers will store 1.5 million doses of the Pfizer vaccine. I've just spent 100 days touring New Zealand as part of Stuff Travel's Back Your Backyard campaign. When will our borders open? By foreign affairs reporter Melissa Clarke. There's been no official word on that yet. They are hoping they can buy enough, and then get it early enough, to get their populations vaccinated and open borders. Thursday 15 October 2020 11:40 Australia is finally reopening its borders to international travel lers, but only those from New Zealand will be allowed in. But Ardern said New Zealand's goal is to be at a certain level of immunity before the Government considers changing its border restrictions. Skip to main content. Politicians can hold up statistics saying things are going well, but talking to people on the ground is where you get a real sense of how things are going. NZ travel bubble being delayed by Australian states' coronavirus border closures, Winston Peters says . COVID-19 Alert System Current Alert Level; Alert Level 1; Alert Level 2; Alert Level 3; Regional advice. Jacinda Ardern on Covid-19 and herd immunity . A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Straits Times on May 02, 2020, with the headline 'Australia, NZ may open borders to create 'Trans-Tasman bubble''. travel; travel updates; health & safety; New Zealand set to open borders for NSW, Victoria tourists before Qld. An agreement has been signed to purchase up to 5 million vaccines from Janssen Pharmaceutica, and the Ministry of Health says this is likely to require a single dose. And this one can be stored at regular refrigeration temperature. However, some significant hurdles remain. The vaccine must first be proven to be effective, which won't be known for a few months at the earliest. In New Zealand’s case, that's when a sufficient level of our population is vaccinated, meaning Covid-19 won't rapidly spread. "It doesn't necessarily have to be 100 per cent - we may never get to 100 per cent.". Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said New Zealand will not open its borders to the rest of the world for “a long time to come” but has discussed a travel zone with Australia. But that may still be a long way off – the Minister of Covid-19 Response Chris Hipkins said some travel restrictions would likely remain in place for another 12 to 18 months. The stakes are massive: Countries that get the rollout right will emerge more powerful in a post-Covid world. New Zealand has 1.5 million doses ordered so far; given that two doses are needed, this is enough for 750,000 people. If you think you meet our criteria to travel you must first submit an expression of interest using our online request form. Update: October 18th: A limited number of international flights are flying into Beijing. Now, the crucial question is: Can we continue that wave of success with a safe, quick rollout of vaccines and open our borders? Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has revealed New Zealand will need to have a certain level of Covid-19 herd immunity before border restrictions are significantly altered. So, let's look at New Zealand's roll of the dice when it comes to vaccines. Novavax commenced phase 3 trials in the United States and the United Kingdom. Air Travel Pass – Singapore. Other international passenger flights to Beijing continue to be diverted to 16 designated airports in Chengdu, Changsha, Hefei, Lanzhou, Tianjin, Shijiazhuang, Taiyuan, Hohhot, Jinan, Qingdao, Nanjing, Shenyang, Dalian, Zhengzhou, Xi’an and Wuhan. For countries that get their populations vaccinated fast, the benefits will be measured in the billions. Well, the biggest arms race of the 21st century is under way – except the arms here are on our bodies. The country that is first to get its vaccine rollout right will emerge more powerful. Lives will be saved, trade will be able to resume freely, businesses will be able to look outside their domestic market, and international tourism will resume. It wants the entire population vaccinated by October 2021, and presumably borders will open shortly afterwards. In New Zealand, we are rightly taking a more considered approach and waiting for more evidence from emergency use trials before giving the green light. That would be a best-case scenario, and one Ardern will no doubt be working towards. Australia reopening for international travel may not happen until late 2021. He added that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade was talking to other countries about an international system to have people certifiably vaccinated. And with the problems they’ve had with cruise ships and COVID - 19, I would suggest that the decision on when ships other than local cruises can visit will be dependant on how well the freeing of borders with air/land travel goes. Our border will not fully open until this is achieved. Palmerston North . Commencing September 1, 2020, visitors from New Zealand and Brunei can apply for an Air Travel Pass (ATP) to visit the island-state. But situations like these will occur all over the world in places where we may have less information from which to estimate how many "silent cases" we might import when we open the borders. Ski hills and other tourist attractions are closed. However, having a best guess is important – and the current view of Dr Anthony Fauci (head of the US National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases) is “70 [per cent] to 80-plus per cent” of a country's population. There are no restrictions on the movement of freight. "We do need to know if someone has been vaccinated or not. The Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine started being rolled out for emergency use in the United Kingdom this week, and our Government has secured access to 7.6 million doses. “Australia and New Zealand have managed the COVID-19 pandemic extremely well with low rates of infection in both countries,” he said. Andorra officially reopened borders for international tourism on July 29, 2020. At the moment this list only includes 6 green-list countries: So, in the “arms race” I mentioned before, the golden level is likely to be about 70 per cent to 85 per cent of our population – or 3.5 million to 4.25 million New Zealanders. The Ministry of Health says a general rollout will commence in the second half of 2021, but when it's complete is what we need to focus on. The International Air Transport Association (IATA), based in Geneva, has released new data showing how the pandemic has affected air travel and when it’s expected to recover. And most are desperately wanting to know when that will be. But public sentiment could turn if other countries like Australia and Singapore get their borders open well before ours. And there are some early frontrunners. Turkey’s international borders are open for travelers from a number of countries, including the U.S., according to the U.S. Embassy in Turkey. Travel to and from Australia Australia has announced passengers from New Zealand can travel to Australia, quarantine-free, from Friday 16 October, if they have not been in an area designated a COVID-19 hotspot in New Zealand in the preceding 14 days. Those advocating for the Swedish "let it in" model have largely gone quiet, as history proved that was a mistake. Initially, Fauci said 70 per cent to 75 per cent, but that figure has gone higher in recent weeks. Hipkins said that work is underway, given the vaccines that continued to emerge, to decide how much of the population would need to be vaccinated before travel restrictions could be eased. Given two doses will be needed, this is enough for 3.8 million people. Singapore Ministry of Health has officially announced reopening borders to international travelers from the September 1 but followed up with very strict rules.. One country that’s been on many travel wishlist is South Africa. On Friday, New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said she was keen to reopen NZ's borders with its Pacific island neighbours. This could start arriving as soon as March, but any rollout will depend on our regulator, Medsafe, granting approval. Now, the crucial question is: can we continue that wave of success with a safe, and quick, roll-out of vaccines and open our borders? Covid-19: Promising Pfizer vaccine 'major step' in coronavirus battle, Government says, Covid-19: Dr Anthony Fauci says experts will know whether a coronavirus vaccine is 'safe and effective' by December, WHO scientist: Young may have to wait until 2022 for Covid-19 vaccine, I've just spent 100 days touring New Zealand, However, with fresh outbreaks in New South Wales and Victoria, The Ministry of Health hasn't said what level of herd immunity will be required, have already been approved for emergency use by overseas regulators, Those advocating for the Swedish "let it in" model have largely gone quiet, Mark Reason: Australia's cricket loses honour in shameful short bowling assault on India, New choking rules make 'battle of the lunch box' even harder for parents, Victims of Hāwera alleged double homicide were a father and son, 'I don't hate him': Wife walks free from bigamist husband, Man accused of raping friend on trial in the New Plymouth District Court, Car travelled wrong way on Wellington motorway for 10km before crash, leaving two dead, two critical, Australia vs India: Rishabh Pant leads India to famous series victory over Australia at the Gabba, Dispute between neighbours ends with racial slur being emailed to employer, A Covid-19 love story: They met, isolated together and then they fell in love, Police find items belonging to missing Wellington kayaker on seabed. 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