10. Question No. 10—COVID-19 ResponseCHRIS BISHOP (National) to the Minister for COVID-19 ResponseQuestion No. 10—COVID-19 Response10. CHRIS BISHOP (National) to the Minister for COVID-19 Response: Has he seen the official advice regarding vaccine certificates which states There are also issues around maintaining social licence over the management of the pandemic and social cohesion. Over time this measure may no longer be justifiable as vaccination rates increase and the public health rationale becomes diminished" and has he received advice from officials on at what point vaccination certificates are no longer justifiable?Hon CHRIS HIPKINS (Minister for COVID-19 Response): If the member's referring to the joint briefing by the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet and the Ministry of Health that I requested and then subsequently proactively released on 10 December then the answer to that first part of the question is yes. In answer to the second part of the question the ongoing use of vaccination certificates continues to be a conversation with officials. We've yet to receive formal advice on when would be the right time to stop using vaccination certificates but it continues to be something that we keep under active review.Chris Bishop: Has he been provided with advice from officials on the impact of the Yardley v Minister for Workplace Relations and Safety High Court decision on the legality of other vaccine mandates imposed by the Government; if so what does the advice say?Hon CHRIS HIPKINS: Without getting into the specifics of the legal advice that has been provided to the Government it is important to note that the Yardley decision when read in totality was actually a very narrow decision and cannot be applied to other vaccination mandate decisions.Chris Bishop: Does he agree that the utility of vaccine mandates are considerably diminished given more than 95 percent of the eligible New Zealand population has now had two doses of the vaccine and the impact of vaccination on transmission under Omicron is nowhere near what it was under Delta?Hon CHRIS HIPKINS: The use of vaccination requirements for certain workforces is something that the Government keeps under review. As I've previously indicated it is possible that some workforces will find those requirements removed before others and will do that based on public health advice and based on a proportionate risk assessment as we make those decisions.Debbie Ngarewa-Packer (remote): Thank you te Pīka. What support if any has Government given to whānau who lost their jobs due to mandates and Government vaccine certificates?Hon CHRIS HIPKINS: Many of the workforces covered by the vaccination requirements—so for people to continue to do those jobs they needed to be vaccinated—are in the public sector. The first course of action for those workforces was to find opportunities for redeployment. Where redeployment was not available then people have been worked with to see whether there are other options available to them. Termination of their employment has only been used as an absolute last resort and people will have had plenty of time to work through that process. In terms of people in the private sector who may have been affected by that there are supports available—for example through the Ministry of Social Development. Debbie Ngarewa-Packer: Does Government intend to support unvaccinated whānau to secure jobs once Government vaccine mandates have been lifted; if not why not?Hon CHRIS HIPKINS: My message to all of those whānau is that vaccination is safe it is effective and it is something that I would strongly encourage them to do. Of course we'll continue to look to support people into employment wherever we're able to do that.Chris Bishop: Why are unvaccinated nurses who don't have COVID unable to go to work in hospitals due to the mandate while we've got to the point where vaccinated nurses who do have COVID are able to go to work?Hon CHRIS HIPKINS: In terms of the recent decision that was announced in the last couple of days around allowing people who have COVID-19 to work in our health system it's important to note that there are some very narrow parameters around where that could be applied. For example where someone was COVID-positive and was working in a ward with COVID-positive patients there may be a justified reason to have someone in there in order to ease the pressure on the rest of the workforce. Or where a surgeon was performing a life-saving surgery and they were the only person available to do that and without them doing that that person would die there may well be a justified reason for that person to go to work. But it is not a blanket exemption that says that people in the health workforce should be going to work even if they have COVID-19."