THE fourth year of the pandemic has started and we are still left wondering about the whys and hows. We could easily be participating in a medical-psychological drama on Netflix with a very uncertain outcome and lots of anxious episodes.
A few days ago Dr Ayesha Verill, New Zealand Minister for Covid-19 Response, belatedly replied to my letter of August 18 entitled ‘Current pandemic policy and protocols are out of date’ in which I asked the government to consider published research findings from Thailand, Qatar and Iceland. I also requested that vaccination status be included on death certificates to aid research. In her reply, Dr Verill noted that the government has now ended the Covid-19 Protection Framework and added: ‘While New Zealand watches closely how other countries are dealing with the response to Covid-19, it is important that we make our own decision when it comes to how we manage the virus, as many factors determine our response, such as vaccination rates, community transmission, and the pressures on our health system.’
