After considerable debate, Horowhenua District Council voted last night to mandate vaccine passes for those 12 years 3 months and over to access community facilities. The mandate will come into effect from 21 February 2022. 

It comes after a decision on Thursday, 3 February which requires Council staff to have a vaccine pass or undertake regular Rapid Antigen Testing (RAT) to meet the latest Council health and safety requirements. The new changes to Council policies reflect risks presented by new highly contagious variants, such as Omicron and are in line with the majority of Councils across New Zealand. 

Before the vote, Councillors heard from The University of Auckland’s Immunisation Advisory Centre representative Melanie Miller, who responded to several questions posed by Councillors and received feedback from the community.  

With vaccination rates sitting at 95% for the MidCentral DHB region, the vast majority of our community have prescribed to the directive from Central Government to get vaccinated.   

“This was not about dividing our community. Ultimately we had to make a tough call, and what cemented the decision is the need to keep our people safe, protect those more vulnerable or unable to get the vaccine for whatever reason, and those at higher risk of getting severely sick should they get COVID-19,” said Mayor Bernie Wanden. 

“Council’s decision echoes our insistent focus on health, safety and the wellbeing of our people. This has been and will continue to be our number one priority. Subsequent to that is the continuity of council services to our community,” states David Wright, Interim Chief Executive, Horowhenua District Council. 

David Wright went on to comment that Council Officers have been looking at other ways in which Council can continue to provide services to those without a vaccine pass. An update would go to Councillors in the coming weeks. 

Updated Council Services and Facilities at Red will be available on 21 February, until then the following still applies - https://www.horowhenua.govt.nz/CommunityPlaces/Emergency-Management/COVID-19/COVID-Council-Services-and-Facilities-at-Red 

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