Steven Joyce: Covid, border controls and economic hangover. Buckle in for 2021 25 Dec, 2020 04:00 AM 6 minutes to read Can New Zealand roll out Covid vaccines effectively? Photo / AP NZ Herald OPINION: This benighted year is almost over, but it will cast a long shadow. We will be talking about 2020 for a very long time. The pandemic has dominated our lives for months and months and a simple year change won't alter that. New Zealand and Australia compare very well with the rest of the world in handling Covid-19 to date. Our government has done a good job in managing the response, and was thus well rewarded at the October election.