and working holiday visa holders would be allowed to self-isolate for seven days. from 11.59pm, 12 april, most temporary visa holders, 5,000 international students and critical workers would be allowed to self isolate for seven days. from july 2022, anyone from australia, visa-waver travellers, and skilled workers would be allowed to enter the country without having to isolate. from october 2022, the border would be opened to all visa holders. under this arrangement, vaccinated new zealanders and eligible travellers would be able to go into self-isolation and undergo testing on arrival rather than having to go into miq facilities. unvaccinated travellers would still be required to go into miq facilities. on 28 february 2022, the new zealand government further accelerated the reopening of the country's borders: from 11:59 pm on 2 march, vaccinated travelers would no longer need to self-isolate. from 11:59 pm on 4 march, new zealanders and other eligible critical workers would be able to enter the country without self-isolating. from 13 march, most temporary visa holder categories including working holiday visa and seasonal workers would no longer need to self-isolate. on 3 may 2022, the government eased travel restrictions to allow unvaccinated visa holders, permanent residents, and australian citizens residing in new zealand to enter the country without undergoing managed isolation. in mid-may, the government accelerated the reopening of new zealand's borders: from 16 may, visitors from the pacific islands can apply for visitor visas. from 4 july, all work visas can enter the country. from 31 july, all visitor and student visa holders and cruise ships can enter the country. international responses on 8 september 2020, the secretary-general of the world health organization tedros adhanom praised new zealand's response to the covid-19 pandemic alongside several other countries including cambodia, japan, south korea, rwanda, senegal, spain, and vietnam. on 28 october, hoover institution senior fellow victor davis hanson criticised prime minister ardern's requirement that people undergoing managed isolation quarantine be tested as a condition for leaving on fox news's the ingraham angle while the show's host laura ingraham likened miq facilities to coronavirus "quarantine camps". hanson and ingraham drew coverage from new zealand media commentators including the spinoff's alex braee, who compared their remarks to former united kingdom independence party politician suzanne evans' remarks likening new zealand's lockdown policies to nazi germany. newshub's jamie ensor responded that ingraham's comments lacked context, explaining that the camps were actually lavish hotels and motels. court rulings on 4 may 2020, a high court judge allowed a man who had travelled from the united kingdom to visit his dying father, overruling the government's strict lockdown orders including a 14-day quarantine period for all overseas travellers. in response, prime minister ardern asked health minister david clark to review 24 cases where health authorities blocked requests by individuals to see their dying relatives on health grounds. as a result of the government's review, a woman was granted exemption from the mandatory 14-day quarantine to visit her 59 year old terminally ill mother. on 19 august, the wellington high court ruled that the government's message to stay at home at the start of the alert level 4 lockdown for nine days between 26 march and 3 april was justified but unlawful and contrary to the new zealand bill of rights act 1990. a law change on 3 april made the lockdown legal. the high court's ruling had come in response to a legal challenge mounted by lawyer andrew borrowdale. the attorney general david parker has defended the government's handling of the lockdown and not ruled out an appeal against the ruling. vaccination efforts main article: covid-19 vaccination in new zealand on 12 october 2020, the new zealand government signed an agreement with pfizer and biontech to buy 1.5 million covid-19 batches of the pfizer-biontech covid-19 vaccine. in addition, the government established a fund of $66.3 million to support a covid-19 immunisation programme. on 3 february 2021, the government formally authorised the pfizer-biontech covid-19 vaccine for use in new zealand. the vaccine will be limited to people aged 16 years and over. on 20 february 100 nurses became the first people in new zealand to receive the pfizer-biontech covid-19 vaccine. healthcare workers, essential workers and those most at risk will be vaccinated in the second quarter of the year. the general population will be vaccinated in the second half of the year. on 16 october 2021 ("super saturday"), an all-day nationwide vaccination telethon ("vaxathon") was held, featuring celebrity guests and health professionals in a coordinated cross-platform broadcast. the event resulted in record-breaking vaccination numbers, with over 100,000 doses being given out by 3 pm. vaccine rollout this section is an excerpt from covid-19 vaccination in new zealand § vaccine roll out plan. covid-19 vaccine rollout plan order priority group number eligible (estimated) doses administered as of 11:59 pm 26 october 2021 status group 1 1a border/miq workforce 66,451 dose 1: 66,767dose 2: 65,205 in progress 1b families and household contacts group 2 2a frontline healthcare workers (non-border) who could be exposed to covid-19 while providing care 661,183 dose 1: 661,231dose 2: 621,689 in progress 2b frontline healthcare workers who may expose vulnerable people to covid-19 2b at-risk people living in settings with a high risk of transmission or exposure to covid-19 2b new zealand defence force 2b frontline staff who interact with customers and transport and logistic services directly supporting the vaccination programme group 3 3a people aged 75+ 1,700,000≈ dose 1: 793,481dose 2: 746,741 in progress 3b people aged 65+ 3c people with underlying health conditions or disabilities, or 3c are disabled, orare in a position of caring for a person with a disability, orare pregnant (any trimester), orare an adult in a custodial setting. group 4 4 people aged 60 and over 2,136,481 dose 1: 2,136,491dose 2: 1,585,195 in progress people aged 55 and over people aged 50 and over people aged 40 and over people aged 30 and over people aged 12 and over other groups – new zealand olympic team 220 dose 1: 220dose 2: 220 completed – new zealand paralympic team 29 dose 1: 29dose 2: 29 completed – special forces in operation kōkako 80 dose 1: 80dose 2: 80 completed the following reasons for overseas travel are eligible to be considered for an early vaccine: access critical medical care that is not available in new zealand for yourself or your dependent to visit an immediate family member who is dying to provide critical care and protection for a dependent e.g., your child. to protect the safety and security of new zealand's right to govern itself for government-approved humanitarian efforts as part of new zealand's commitments to foreign aid, international disaster responses, or supporting pacific and realm countries' recovery from the covid-19 pandemic to participate in major international events where travel is necessary to represent new zealand for nationally significant trade negotiations. public opinion government response approval an utting research poll conducted on 1–2 march 2020 found that 47% of respondents were satisfied with the government's overall response to the covid-19 outbreak, with 34% unsatisfied and 19% unsure. a subsequent poll conducted on 21–22 march, prior to the lockdown announcement, found that 62% of respondents were satisfied with the response. however, 37% were not confident a large-scale outbreak could be prevented in new zealand, with 26% confident and 36% unsure. a newshub–reid research poll conducted from 8 to 16 may 2020 asked whether it was "the right call" to implement the march–april nationwide level 4 stay-at-home order. 91.6% responded "yes", 6% "no" and 2.5% "don't know". on 9 august 2020, a horizon research poll found that trust in the ministry of health and government's ability to manage the covid-19 pandemic was 82%, down from 91% in april 2020. the poll also found that 64% of new zealanders still "totally" trusted the government and ministry of health, down from 75% in april. a poll by stickybeak for the spinoff on 16–17 february 2021 found that 79% of people rated the government's response as "excellent" or "good" overall while 12% of people rated it "bad" or "terrible". similarly, 79% of people approved of the decision to move auckland to alert level 3 on 14 february while 12% opposed, and 67% supported moving the rest of the country to level 2 while 19% opposed. an 18–22 august 2021 poll by stickybeak for the spinoff found that 84% of people supported the decision to move to alert level 4 on 17 august, with 10% opposed. of the 84%, 72% of people strongly supported the decision. overall, 79% of people supported the government's response to the virus while 12% opposed; these values are unchanged from their february poll. in early august the new zealand government locked down the country in an attempt to stop the delta variant, while initially supportive of the governments response, public opinion declined significantly as the lockdown continued and the government initially refused to give up on its elimination strategy. an october poll found in november 2021, polling showed that support for both the government and trust in its response had dropped in-part due to the ongoing lockdown to stop the delta variant. between 17 and 28 november 2022, the new zealand herald commissioned two polls by polling company dynata, which both surveyed a thousand people. the first survey found that 51% of respondents thought that new zealand's covid-19 response had divided the country while 37% though that the covid-19 response had unified the country. the second survey found that 57% of respondents thought that new zealand's response to covid-19 had been "well-judged and appropriate." by contrast, 25% disagreed while 18% were undecided on the matter. government response approval ratings. date polling organisation sample size approve disapprove unsure lead 17-28 november 2022 the new zealand herald-dynata 1,00057251827 29 oct-3 nov 2021 talbot mills research 1,02346262820 28 sept-5 oct 2021 talbot mills research 1,20060162444 18–22 aug 2021 the spinoff–stickybeak 791211 57 16–17 feb 2021 the spinoff–stickybeak 601791210 57 14–19 jul 2020 horizon poll 1,7628217165 16–20 may 2020 colmar brunton 1,003927285 20–21 april 2020 colmar brunton 601878579 3–5 april 2020 colmar brunton 601849675 21–22 march 2020 utting research/stuff 3,13362221640 1–2 march 2020 utting research/stuff 1,90047371610 8–12 february 2020 colmar brunton 1,00462251237 vaccine mandates an october 2021 talbot mills poll found that support for workplace vaccine mandates was at 79% for health workers, 76% for people travelling overseas, 72% for teachers, 71% for hospitality workers, and 70% for supermarket staff and domestic travellers. a november 2021 1 news–colmar brunton poll found that 74% of respondents supported the workplace vaccine mandates currently in place, with 20% opposed. media perception the new zealand government's response to the covid-19 pandemic was covered by both national and international media, which praised prime minister jacinda ardern's leadership and swift response to the outbreak. the washington post's fifield described her regular use of interviews, press conferences and social media as a "masterclass in crisis communication." in addition, alastair campbell, a journalist and adviser in tony blair's british government, commended ardern for addressing both the human and economic consequences of the coronavirus pandemic. following the 2020 new zealand general election, the observer's roy and graham-mclay attributed the sixth labour government's landslide election victory to ardern's "deft handling" of the covid-19 pandemic and "resolute belief" in science and experts. due to the large viewing of the daily 1 pm press briefings, the actions of and lines of questioning from journalists came under scrutiny from the public, with many criticising repetitive or aggressive lines of questioning and "gotcha" accusations. stuff journalist thomas coughlan replied that the criticism "seemed to come from nowhere" and these actions are "really the way it's always been", saying that the methodology has only come into question due to the large viewership of the press conferences. television producer robyn patterson, writing for newsroom, commented that the "aggressive stance of some local journalists ... is leading to a public backlash", which "elevates the anxiety levels of an already distressed public and creates deep unease". she noted that a 2019 griffith university study of journalistic best practice recommended that journalists consider the needs of those impacted by disastrous events or else they risk causing more harm than good. in late april 2021, bloomberg's covid resilience ranking ranked new zealand as the second best place to be during the covid-19