New vaccine requirements for council facilities and venues

Taupō District Council will introduce vaccine requirements at most of its facilities and venues from December 15.

The decision aligns with the government’s move to the Covid-19 framework and the introduction of the My Vaccine Pass this week, but allows a slightly longer transition period for people to get vaccinated and coincides with changes to the Auckland boundaries.

Chief executive Gareth Green said all users aged 12 years and over of council facilities and venues – except its customer service centres, council chambers, landfill and transfer stations – will be required to use the My Vaccine Pass to enter.

“To help minimise the risk of Covid-19 spreading in our community, and to keep everyone safe, we are requiring the public to use the My Vaccine Pass before entering our facilities.

“Putting this requirement in place not only ensures the safety of our staff, our customers and the wider community, but also means we can maintain our levels of service to the best of our ability, at any traffic light level.

“We understand that this may impact on some members of our community, but as a local government organisation, I believe we need to lead the way and encourage as many of our community to get vaccinated as we move from the elimination strategy to the protection framework,” he said.

The facilities that will require My Vaccine Passes from 15 December include all swimming pools, libraries, museum, Great Lake Centre, Taupō Events Centre, Owen Delany Park Stadium and the number one pitch, Superloo and council offices with public access.

To ensure the community has access to democratic and essential services, the customer service centres, council chamber, landfill and transfer stations will not require a My Vaccine Pass at this stage.

“In alignment with this requirement, over the past few weeks we have also been consulting with staff regarding vaccination status for our organisation,” Mr Green said.

“As a first step, we will be requiring all staff working at our facilities to have received their first vaccination by 15 December. We will work closely with affected staff to support them through these changes. I am absolutely committed to keeping everyone safe at their place of work.”

Alongside these decisions, council has also confirmed this year’s New Year’s Eve event and fireworks display will not go ahead.

“With the district moving into the new protection framework at the red traffic light level, we know that this means significant restrictions on the number of people that can gather for a community event. Irrespective of these restrictions, we think this is the right thing to do,” Mr Green said.

“While we understand this will be disappointing, our district is a significant visitor destination and at such a busy time of year we need to ensure we are doing everything we can to reduce the risk of spreading Covid-19. We will still look to deliver something when we can do so safely.”

More information on council facilities and venues will be available online prior to the vaccine requirements coming into play on 15 December. Please note, the AC Baths café, gym and rockwall will have separate measures in place from this Friday, 3 December, to comply with the red traffic light measures in the Taupō District.