New Zealand will ease its health restrictions this week after the number of cases peaked, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said on Wednesday, estimating the population largely immune.
Ms Ardern announced that limits on outdoor gatherings would be lifted on Friday, allowing sporting events and concerts to go ahead without restrictions.
She added that the vaccination pass will no longer be compulsory from April 4, and that most vaccination requirements for certain categories of employees will be dropped.
“To date over 500,000 cases of COVID-19 have been reported and modeling experts estimate there were likely 1.7 million infections,” she said, conceding that the “COVID (was) here to stay”.
“This figure, coupled with the fact that 95% of New Zealanders are fully vaccinated, means that we now have a high level of herd immunity”, thus justifying the lifting of restrictions.
Last week, Ms Ardern presented a plan for the early reopening of borders.
New Zealand has managed to keep COVID at bay for the majority of the pandemic with strict border closures and draconian restrictions.
But Omicron caused a spike in infections, forcing the country to review its strategy.
Nearly 21,000 new cases were recorded on Tuesday, but only 177 coronavirus-related deaths have been counted for a population of five million since the start of the pandemic.
Ms Ardern said vaccination requirements for the police, military and education sector will be dropped, but maintained for healthcare workers and border workers.
She denied any link between the move and protests that blocked traffic around parliament in Wellington for more than three weeks in late February.