Vaccines are free for everyone in New Zealand aged 12 and over.A lot of the advice around vaccines refers to workers. It is important to note, in regards to vaccinations, the term “Workers” includes both paid and unpaid workers.

Vaccines are voluntary and individuals cannot be forced to have a vaccine. Some work environments have mandated vaccination requirements. It is also important to note that in some workplaces a worker may need to be vaccinated to perform a specific role in for health and safety reasons. This must be assessed by each organisation. WorkSafe have provided guidance on this.

In October 2021, the government mandated vaccinations (in addition to the border workers previously mandated) for the following work spaces:

• Health and disbility sector: Anyone carrying out high-risk work in the health and disability sector must now be fully vaccinated by 1 December 2021: Read more >
• Education: Only staff and support people who are vaccinated can have contact with children and students from 1 January 2022: Read more >

For a summary of things to consider in your workplace: Vaccines and employers.

Check out the following information sites for detailed information:

• General vaccine information – Covid-19 Vaccines
• Toolkit to help workplaces, non-profit groups and other organisations to support COVID-19 vaccinations in their communities: Tool Kit
• Worksafe Assessing whether a specific role needs to be performed by a vaccinated worker
• Vaccines and the workplace
• Ministry of Health vaccine resources.
• Sign up for Ministry of Health newsletters on vaccine updates for the health sector.

This guide, “How to talk about COVID-19 vaccinations: Building trust in vaccination” is for people in health, science, policy and community roles who want to talk effectively about COVID-19 vaccinations to different groups of people who may be hesitant about getting vaccinated.

You may get a booking invitation from the Ministry of Health or your health provider. You can ignore these if you have already booked your appointments or received your vaccination. The easiest way is to book online through Book My Vaccine.