Covid 19
Children head back to school with new rules under Omicron
The 5-11 year age group has been able to get the Covid-19 vaccine for two and a half weeks - but so far only 37 percent have.
Despite that, schools are back and measures have been put in place to… Video, Audio
Ongoing booster shots for healthy unlikely - Dr Nikki Turner
Immunisation Advisory Centre director Dr Nikki Turner joins Checkpoint to discuss why booster shots were brought forward from four to three months after a second dose of the Covid-19 Pfizer vaccine.
… Video, Audio
Booster interval shortened to three months, government confirms
The gap between second and third doses of the Covid-19 vaccine is being shorted from four months to three, the government has announced. Watch the government announcement here.
Covid-19: Government provides more support for arts and culture sector
The government is boosting support for the arts sector following the shift to the red traffic light setting. Audio
Mainfreight NZ mandates Covid-19 vaccine for staff
Mainfreight has mandated its New Zealand staff to be vaccinated against Covid-19.
Robertson on MIQ considerations, rapid antigen tests in Omicron response
Mounting political pressure is not the reason pregnant journalist Charlotte Bellis was offered an emergency MIQ spot, Deputy Prime Minister Grant Robertson says. Audio
Covid-19: Red light setting troubles sports fans
The red traffic light setting is affecting sports fans.
Restrictions limit crowds to 100, meaning even if venues create separate bubbles for several groups, spectator numbers are well down.
Reporter… Audio
Covid-19: Arts agency responds to $115m support to the sector
Funding support for the arts and culture sector is being increased.
A $100 million boost has been announced to cushion the blow of red traffic light restrictions.
They include an extra $70 million… Audio
Covid-19: Long weekends likely affecting numbers - Plank
Infections in the community are moving slower than they have in overseas Omicron outbreaks, but a Covid-19 modeller warns we need a clearer picture.
The University of Canterbury's professor Michael… Audio
Covid-19: Canada truckers blockade capital over vaccine mandate
In Canada, what started as a convoy of truckers protesting the vaccine mandate has turned into into a blockade in the capital Ottawa.
The protestors aren't just opposing Covid-19 policies in country… Audio
Covid-19: Extra rapid antigen test supplies a relief for company
A company supplying rapid antigen tests says the government has finally taken its stranglehold off tests that should have already been available.
The government has announced that it will have access… Audio
Covid-19: Christopher Luxon on party's Omicron plan
The National Party says all school children, teachers and staff would get two rapid antigen tests a week if it was in power.
That was one of several announcements made by party leader Christopher… Audio
Covid-19: Tonga headed into lockdown after cases discovered
The Kingdom of Tonga will go into a nationwide lockdown on Wednesday after two cases of Covid-19 were detected through routine testing at the wharf in Nuku'alofa.
RNZ Pacific News Editor Susana… Audio
Covid-19: Grant Robertson on Bellis, rapid antigen tests
The government is coming under pressure this week as National ramps up its attack on the handling of the pandemic and the media turns its full attention to pregnant journalist Charlotte Bellis and her… Audio
Covid-19: More than $100m for arts and culture sector
The arts and culture sector is in for a $100 million boost to cushion the blow of red traffic light restrictions.
A $70 million boost has been earmarked for events that were planned before the move… Audio
Covid reinfections about 10% of England's cases this year, data suggests
With increased numbers of people catching the disease again since the Omicron variant began to predominate, Britain on Monday started incorporating possible reinfections into its daily data.
Colleagues isolating as airport worker's positive result announced
A staff member at Hawke's Bay Airport has tested positive for Covid-19.
Man shares story of terminally ill dad, MIQ issues
After a stoush which has made headlines around the world, pregnant journalist Charlotte Bellis has been granted an emergency MIQ spot so can come home from Afghanistan. But of course there are more… Audio
Calls for Facebook to take stronger action on Covid-19 misinformation as antivax leaders banned
A group monitoring conspiracy theories on social media is calling on Facebook to do more to stamp out false and misleading claims about the Covid-19 pandemic and vaccine.
WHO and the global response to COVID-19
Nina Hall, Assistant Professor in International Relations at Johns Hopkins University joins us for her first chat of 2022. She's taking a look at the role of the World Health Organisation and the… Audio
