5. Question No. 5—COVID-19 ResponseCHRIS BISHOP (National) to the Minister for COVID-19 ResponseQuestion No. 5—COVID-19 Response5. CHRIS BISHOP (National) to the Minister for COVID-19 Response: Does he stand by all of the Government's statements and actions in relation to the response to COVID-19?Hon CHRIS HIPKINS (Minister for COVID-19 Response): Yes. In particular I stand by our action to shorten managed isolation and quarantine (MIQ) stays to seven days followed by a short period of self-isolation at home which strikes the right balance between managing risk from overseas arrivals while taking a significant step to reconnecting New Zealand to the rest of the world.Chris Bishop: Is it correct that a prototype for the travel health pass will be ready by 26 November and why will it only be a prototype on 26 November?Hon CHRIS HIPKINS: There's two things the member may be referring to. One is the health certificate which is used domestically. The other is international travel documentation used for the purposes of leaving and entering New Zealand. One of the reasons that things around the international space are less certain is that an international standard for that has not yet been reached. It is important that whatever system we adopt here in New Zealand is interoperable with systems being adopted by other countries. We are working closely with Australia and the EU in particular around making sure that the system that we're putting in place is interoperable with their system because it is in all of our best interests for there to be a good degree of transferability around health passes vaccination and testing results for the purposes of international travel.Chris Bishop: Why do doubly vaccinated negatively tested Kiwis overseas have to wait until the first quarter of 2022 before they can begin isolating at home after arriving into New Zealand?Hon CHRIS HIPKINS: We have to recognise as I said yesterday our international border operates across the country not just in Auckland. Outside of Auckland at the moment we do not have significant numbers of COVID-19 cases. We are dealing with some very localised and relatively contained outbreaks at the moment. But having travellers arriving straight into New Zealand and able to freely move about the country to isolate at home would significantly increase risk in the current context. That's not going to be the case for much longer. As we get to the point where we have a significant number of New Zealanders vaccinated—above 90 percent—and we move to the traffic light framework then the risk profile will be different.Chris Bishop: Has the Government commissioned a business case looking at the construction of purpose-built managed isolation facilities and if so what are the terms and time lines of this work?Hon CHRIS HIPKINS: A number of different things have been going on in the MIQ space around what our longer-term capacity needs might be in the MIQ space. Of course those continue to change and I would note that if we had commissioned purpose-built MIQ facilities when the member started agitating for that we could potentially be cutting the ribbon on them right at the point where they're no longer needed. Chris Bishop: Point of order. That was a very specific question which I do not believe was addressed. He just said there was a bunch of work going on. My question was whether or not the Government had commissioned a business case looking at the construction of purpose-built MIQ.SPEAKER: I think the first part of it was specific enough to be addressed.Hon CHRIS HIPKINS: We continue to investigate a range of options. Business cases are being prepared for a variety of different scenarios around the future needs of MIQ.Chris Bishop: Does New Zealand's agreement with Pfizer for the COVID-19 vaccine entitle us to order paediatric doses and have we done so?Hon CHRIS HIPKINS: The advice that I've had is yes—the answer to the first part of the question is yes. The answer to the second part of the question is Pfizer are certainly—in our discussions with Pfizer they know that we wish to have access to those vaccines. At this point we don't have a confirmed timetable for the delivery of those.Chris Bishop: So is it correct to say that our contract with Pfizer allows us to order paediatric doses of the Pfizer vaccine but we haven't done so yet?Hon CHRIS HIPKINS: No that would be an overly simplistic way of thinking about things. In an international market for vaccines at the moment one doesn't just simply email out an order and say Here's what I want and when I want it." There is some discussion that is required with the suppliers who at the moment are facing unprecedented international demand and do have a limited capacity to supply. But the series of agreements that we've had with Pfizer have always envisaged that when a paediatric dose was made available or developed if a paediatric dose was made available then New Zealand would want to have access to that."