Summary

New Zealand’s royal commission into its Covid-19 response found vaccine mandates were reasonable based on available data but acknowledged they harmed social cohesion.

The report praised the country’s elimination strategy for achieving one of the lowest Covid death rates among developed nations while preventing healthcare system collapse.

However, it criticized prolonged lockdowns, weak health system preparedness, and a lack of planning for future crises.

Commissioners urged broad investment in pandemic readiness and emphasized the importance of both frontline and planning staff.

A second phase of the inquiry will review vaccine harms and conclude in 2026.

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[–] 103 points 2 years ago (17 children)

I’ll never forget watching NZ come out of lockdown and seeing people hug each other while I was still sanitizing groceries.

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    [–] 76 points 2 years ago

    Reasonable is great when it comes to this kind of thing.

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  • [–] 60 points 2 years ago (1 child)

    I feel that this is when social media really showed how much harm it could do to spread misinformation. Good on NZ.

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    [–] 46 points 2 years ago (7 children)

    By contrast USA had over 600,000 preventable deaths due to their utter lack of response... So is this what you would have preferred???

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  • [–] 32 points 2 years ago (3 children)

    "And I encourage it to be released soon … the next pandemic may not be far away. We need to get on and prepare.”

    Yeah, it'll probably come from the US due to some vaccines becoming illegal in some States. Let's just hope it doesnt spread through mouth rain like covid does.

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  • [–] 8 points 2 years ago (2 children)
  • [–] 3 points 2 years ago*

    Basically small droplets of water that are emitted from your mouth as you speak. They can't be seen with the naked eye, and they float on the air. Its how covid is spread so fast in indoor settings.

    I first heard it referred to as "mouth rain" on a Radio Lab podcast episode early in the pandemic

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  • [–] 4 points 2 years ago (5 children)

    “Those who think that Dr Blakely is a patsy for the previous government … you’ll get a huge surprise when you open that report,” he told NZ media outlet Stuff.

    Can someone translate this to English?

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