AUCKLAND (RNZ/Pacnews) — New Zealand has announced it expects to start a vaccination campaign for the Cook Islands in May, after the first meeting between world leaders in this country since the borders closed.
Cook Islands Prime Minister Mark Brown met with his New Zealand counterpart in Auckland. He is the first international leader to be officially welcomed into New Zealand since the pandemic began.
Speaking to media after the meeting, Jacinda Ardern said the vaccination campaign will pave the way for the two-way travel bubble.
She said the two discussed the road map for quarantine-free travel and confirmed NZ$20 million (U.S.$13.9 million) in additional support for the islands this financial year.
“There has been significant work with preparedness and we are currently working in earnest towards a May commencement. The director general of health has also advised that beginning vaccination will add to the safe opening of quarantine-free travel.”
A one-way travel bubble between Rarotonga and New Zealand has been in place since the end of January allowing quarantine-free travel from the Cook Islands to New Zealand.
The New Zealand government will on April 6 announce a start date for the trans-Tasman travel bubble, but whether that will also include the Cook Islands is not yet known.
Brown has said the Cook Islands’ updated contact tracing app, which is compatible with the New Zealand Covid Tracer app, is an essential step on the path to two-way quarantine-free travel.
At least 300 Cook Islanders have arrived in New Zealand to look for work since the one-way travel arrangement came into effect and residents are travelling to New Zealand for medical treatments they can’t access at home.
Brown is the first overseas leader to visit since New Zealand’s borders closed a year ago
Jacinda Ardern
