level 3 in the middle of the previous week, would move down to alert level 2 on 12 november. ardern indicated that cabinet expected to move auckland into the covid protection framework from 29 november 2021. on 9 november, economic and regional development minister stuart nash announced that the government would subsidise the costs of big events over the 2021–2022 summer break under its event transition support scheme. on 10 november, the education minister hipkins announced that all students in auckland and waikato would be able to return to school from 17 november. year 9 and 10 students would return on a fulltime basis while most students in years 1–8 would return on a part-time basis. on 16 november, hipkins launched the government's "my vaccine pass," which can be used as a vaccine certificate for various public events, hospitality, community, sport and faith-based gatherings. that same day, ardern announced that new zealand will enter the "traffic light system" from 29 november and that the auckland boundary will open to vaccinated or tested people from 15 december. on 22 november, ardern confirmed that the entire country would enter the "traffic light system" from 3 december, ending the previous "alert level system". auckland and areas with low vaccination will start on red setting while the rest of the country will start on the orange setting. in addition, hairdressers and barbers in auckland will be allowed to reopen from 25 november. on 24 november, hipkins announced that the "very high-risk" classification for indonesia, fiji, india, pakistan, and brazil would be eliminated from december 2021; allowing travellers from these countries to enter new zealand on the same basis as other international travellers. papua new guinea will continue to be classified as "very high-risk," limiting direct travel to new zealand citizens and residents. in addition, hipkins confirmed that managed isolation and quarantine (miq) restrictions would be eased in three stages throughout 2022. from 17 january, all fully vaccinated new zealanders and other eligible travellers from australia will be exempt from miq. from 14 february, all fully vaccinated new zealanders and other eligible travellers from all other countries will be exempt from miq. from 30 april, all fully vaccinated travellers will be exempt from miq. that same day, the government's covid-19 response (vaccinations) legislation act 2021 passed its third reading, allowing businesses to fire employees who refuse to be vaccinated against covid-19. on 27 november, the government imposed travel restrictions on south africa, namibia, zimbabwe, botswana, lesotho, eswatini, seychelles, malawi and mozambique in response to the spread of the omicron variant. hipkins also announced that entry is restricted to new zealand citizens, who will have to undergo managed isolation for two weeks. december 2021 on 1 december, covid-19 response minister hipkins announced that the pfizer-biontech covid-19 vaccine would be available for children aged 5 to 11 years from late january 2022. on 13 december, prime minister ardern has announced that auckland and all other "red" regions excluding northland will move to the "orange" setting of the covid-19 protection framework at 11.59pm on 30 december. this announcement came following a cabinet meeting whether any regions would move to a different setting under the "traffic light system." that same day, digital economy and communications minister david clark announced that 600 information technology workers and 290 agricultural workers (including mobile plant machinery workers, shearers, and wool handlers) would be granted border exemptions from early 2022 to fill skills shortages in the new zealand economy. on 21 december 2021, hipkins announced several changes in order to bolster new zealand's response to the sars-cov-2 omicron variant, including: reducing the interval between the second dose and the booster shot from six months to four months; making 82% of vaccinated new zealanders eligible for a booster by late february 2022. requiring all eligible border and health workers to get a booster shot. reducing the pre-departure test requirement to enter new zealand from 72 hours to 48 hours before travel. delaying the phased border reopening to the end of february 2022. increasing the length of stay at managed isolation and quarantine (miq) facilities to ten days for all travellers, with no self-isolation component. treating everyone on an international flight with a positive case as a close contact. removing all countries from the "very high-risk country list." rolling out paediatric doses of the pfizer vaccine to children between the ages of 5 and 11 years from 17 january 2022. the new zealand cabinet also confirmed that the covid-19 protection framework ("traffic light system") would be used to manage outbreaks. in the event of omicron outbreaks, affected areas will move into the red traffic light setting. january 2022 on 17 january, ardern announced that new zealand would move to a red traffic light setting if omicron was spreading in the community. that same day, the government launched its vaccination of children aged between five and 11 years old; with 120,000 doses being distributed at clinics. on 18 january, hipkins postponed the next miq lottery due to a tenfold increase in imported omicron cases entering the country. the government's decision was criticised by grounded kiwis member and australian–based expatriate maxine strydom who stated that many new zealand expatriates were facing emotional and metal stress due to travel restrictions, expiring visas and job losses. while health economist professor paula lorgelly expressed disappointment with the suspension, she said that she understood the government's decision, describing it as "a short-term pain for what i perceive to be quite a long-term gain." on 20 january, ardern moved the northland region into the orange traffic light setting at 11:59 pm that night due to a surge of local vaccination rates. on 23 january, the government moved new zealand into the red traffic light setting at 11:59 pm that night in response to recent community cases of the omicron variant in the nelson, new zealand–marlborough region. on 25 january, ardern announced that the government would require any worker covered by the vaccine mandate to wear surgical-grade or n95 face masks instead of cloth face masks. in addition, ad-hoc masks such as scarfs, bandannas, and improved t-shirts would no longer be accepted at public venues such as restaurants, cafes, and gyms. these changes come into effect in nine days' time. on 26 january, the government asked suppliers abbott laboratories, roche, and siemens to give the government priority in accessing rapid antigen tests. ardern also confirmed that the government had ordered tens of millions of rapid antigen tests. in response, several private companies and representative bodies including the health works group, the food and grocery council, and inscience criticised the government for allegedly commandeering their orders. in response to criticism, health director-general bloomfield denied that the government was requisitioning their orders but was merely asking suppliers to consolidate forward orders of rapid antigen tests. the opposition national and act parties accused the government of requisitioning rapid antigen tests from the private sector to hide its alleged incompetence. on 26 january, the government announced its three phase public health response plan to combat omicron. phase one consists of maintaining contact tracing, isolation and ensuring testing for asymptomatic individuals. the objective will be to keep cases as low as possible and to facilitate the vaccination of both adults and eligible children. phase two focuses on slowing the spread of omicron and protecting vulnerable communities. key responses include reducing isolation periods from ten to seven days, notifying cases and close contacts by text messaging, and allowing asymptomatic contacts in critical workforces to work if they can return a negative rapid antigen test. phase three comes into force when cases reach the thousands, with the definition of contacts to household and household-like contacts only. rapid antigen testing and a self-service tool for identifying high risk contacts will be used to respond to the high volumes of omicron cases. february 2022 on 3 february, prime minister ardern announced a five stage plan for reopening the country's borders. these are the following stages: 11.59pm, 27 february: self-isolation opens for new zealanders and eligible travellers coming from australia. the self isolation period would last for ten days. 11.59pm, 13 march: open to new zealanders and eligible travellers from the rest of the world; skilled workers earning at least 1.5x median wage; working holiday visa holders. the self isolation period would last for seven days. 11.59pm, 12 april: offshore temporary visa holders who still meet visa requirements; 5,000 international students; consideration of class exemptions for critical workers who do not meet the 1.5x median wage test. the self isolation period would last for seven days. july: anyone from australia; visa-waiver travel; the introduction of new accredited employer work visa, and the phasing out of skilled worker exemptions. october: border reopens to the rest of the world including all visa categories. 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 managed isolation and quarantine (miq) facilities. unvaccinated travellers would still be required to go into miq facilities. the government plans to maintain a core quarantine capacity in the form of a national quarantine service. on 14 february, ardern announced that new zealand would move to phase two of the government's omicron plan at 11.59pm on 15 february. under phase two, the self-isolation period for cases is reduced from 14 to 10 days and 10 to seven days for contacts. household members will also be required to go into self-isolation. in addition, critical workers will be allowed to resume work if they return daily rapid antigen tests. in addition, fully vaccinated new zealanders returning from australia will only need to spend seven days in isolation from late february 2022. on 14 february, the nz government removed tonga from its quarantine free travel list due to rising cases in the island country. tongans entering nz from 15 february will have to undergo rapid antigen testing (rats) while those entering the country from 22 february will be required to self-isolate for seven days and to take rapid antigen testing. on 24 february, hipkins announced that new zealand would move into "phase three" of the omicron response at 11:59 pm on 24 february in response to rising case numbers, which exceed 6,000 that day. under phase three, only confirmed cases and their household contacts will be required to isolate. these cases and their contacts will be expected to isolate at home and take care of themselves. in addition, rapid antigen testing will replace polymerase chain reaction (pcr) testing as the main form of covid-19 diagnosis. on 25 february, hipkins announced that unvaccinated children and teenagers would be allowed to participate in school sports and extracurricular activities under phase 3 of the country's omicron response plan. he also clarified that the vaccine pass and vaccine requirement would not be required for those participating school organised activities. on 28 february, the new zealand cabinet accelerated the reopening of the country's borders: from 11:59 pm on 2 march, vaccinated travelers entering the country will no longer need to self-isolate. from 11:59 pm on 4 march, new zealanders and other eligible critical workers will be able to enter the country. from 13 march, temporary visa holders including working holiday visa and recognised seasonal employer workers will be able to enter new zealand without having to self-isolate. march 2022 on 9 march, hipkins announced that the isolation period for covid-19 positive cases and household contacts would be reduced from ten days to seven days, which came into effect at 11:59pm on 11 march. on 10 march, hipkins announced that all but four of new zealand's 32 managed isolation and quarantine (miq) hotels would revert back to being hotels by late june 2022. on 16 march, the government announce plans to allow fully-vaccinated tourists from australia to enter the country from 11:59pm on 12 april 2022 without having to undergo into managed or self-isolation. on 23 march, ardern announced that the government would ease several of the covid-19 protection framework's "red light" setting restrictions including: lifting all outdoor gathering restrictions from 11:59pm on 25 march. raising the indoor gathering limit from 100 to 200 from 11:59pm on 25 march. eliminating my vaccine pass requirements from 11:59pm on 4 april. ending vaccine mandates for education, police, and defence force staff as well as businesses using