Covid-19: Ardern warns more virus waves, variants, coming - a podcast by RNZ

The Prime Minister is warning this is only the first wave of Omicron and there will be more waves and new variants coming.
Cabinet ministers will today decide whether Covid-19 restrictions should be eased through a move to an orange alert level.
Jacinda Ardern told Morning Report vaccine mandates and the traffic light system had made a big difference, but not so much anymore.
"The point we used them [vaccine passes] was at a really critical point. We were, in Auckland back when they were introduced, trying to exit a lockdown based on Delta. We knew that the impact that vaccines had on transmission was significant, and the protection they provided significant, and it was also a way of protecting the unvaccinated against high-risk environments.
"The equation has changed quite a bit since then, but in those four months, they have made a big difference to us and getting through that period."
Ardern said the public should keep in mind restrictions may be loosening, but the pandemic is not over.
"You'll see in our consideration today where, we will be weighing up, where we're at in this current peak. And I say current because the one of the points that we'll need to keep making is this will be our first wave and not our only wave. And this is our current variant, not our only variant."

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