Page 31 - Dom Thomas News Today : Breaking News, Live Updates & Top Stories | Vimarsana

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern on India travel suspension: 'I want people to be safe in their journey' © RNZ / Dom Thomas Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern spoke to media a day after announcing a suspension of travel from India because of high numbers of Covid-19 cases. Missed it? Watch it back here: It is the first time New Zealand has stopped citizens or residents from returning. "Flights that come in that are before the new suspension is in place, they'll have the same level of precaution and care as we do for every flight, keeping in mind we treat every international arrival as if they poten...

Festival drug testing law to be made permanent - Minister Little © RNZ / Dom Thomas The government has given a permanent all clear for pill testing at summer festivals, allowing partygoers to check whether their illicit drugs have been laced. The bill is set to expire in December but Health Minister Andrew Little says fresh legislation would be passed this year, making it permanent. He says Victoria University of Wellington research shows 68 percent of festival-goers who used the service changed their behaviour as a result. Some disposed of the drugs that had been tested, some reduced the a...

Covid-19 vaccinations: All New Zealand DHBs now operating vaccine programmes - Bloomfield © RNZ / Dom Thomas Director-General of Health Ashley Bloomfield says all New Zealand's district health boards are now operating vaccination programmes, and vaccine numbers are likely to increase further . He was speaking at today's Covid-19 vaccine update, alongside Associate Health Minister Peeni Henare. Bloomfield says 90,286 vaccine doses administered have been administered as of midnight last night, and New Zealand is likely to hit the 100,000 milestone in the next couple of days. Vaccination numbe...

Vaccine rollout 300,000 shy of ministry's prediction - Bishop © RNZ / Dom Thomas The slow development of three key IT systems is a major reason New Zealand's vaccination rate is the second-lowest in the OECD, National's Covid-19 spokesperson Chris Bishop says.  The National Party has published a leaked document which it says shows New Zealand has fallen far short of its original targets for the Covid-19 vaccine rollout. Bishop said that the document, which dates from January, revealed a plan to have 390,000 doses administered by now. Replying to the criticism, Covid-19 Response Minister C...

Covid-19 vaccination rollout: DHBs face 'hard work' setting up large clinics © RNZ / Samuel Rillstone New Zealand's Covid-19 vaccination rollout needs to scale up and the next few months will be challenging for the health system, an immunisation expert says. Director-General of Health Dr Ashley Bloomfield said the programme was starting to ramp up. Immunisation Advisory Centre director Dr Nikki Turner said the rollout started well, and there will be hard work scaling up health services in the next few months. Turner said New Zealand has a complicated health system, with 20 DHBs, so there wo...