New Zealand expects to administer a record 100,000 COVID-19 vaccine doses in a single day during a mass immunization drive on Oct. 16, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said, as she seeks to accelerate inoculations before easing curbs in Auckland. Ardern on Tuesday urged the country's population over 12 years of age "to roll up sleeves for New Zealand and help make us (one of) the most vaccinated and therefore protected countries in the world". Some 2.44 million, or 58% of the population over 12, have been fully vaccinated so far, according to Reuters. "There is nothing stopping us other than people (not) showing up," Ardern said during a media briefing in Wellington. New Zealand, which had stayed largely virus-free for most of the pandemic until a Delta outbreak in mid-August, has recorded 4,345 confirmed cases overall and 28 deaths. It reported 43 new locally acquired cases of COVID-19 on Tuesday, with a bulk of those in its largest city of Auckland, up from 35 a day earlier. Auckland's 1.7 million residents entered lockdown in mid-August in an effort to quell the Delta outbreak. Some curbs were eased last week including leaving homes to connect with loved ones outdoors, with a limit of 10 people, as well as going to beaches and parks. The government is wielding a bigger stick over the unvaccinated, after mandating healthcare, schools and early childhood staff be vaccinated against COVID or lose their jobs by the end of the year, as it makes another major push for its vaccine roll-out to outpace the virus. The ''no jab, no job'' policy is one of the latest means to make life increasingly hard for those who haven't taken up the Pfizer vaccine. The government says that low vaccination rates, in part, are keeping Northland and Waikato at alert level 3 until Thursday, Auckland at level 3 for at least another week and keeping schools online when term four starts next Monday. Ardern and COVID Response Minister Chris Hipkins mandate vaccinations for the education and health workforce. Ardern announced the government's largest vaccine mandate to date, which will cover hundreds of thousands of workers in education and healthcare. Unvaccinated teachers will soon have to undergo weekly COVID-19 tests. "The reason we are stepping up our vaccine requirements is because Delta is a different and more difficult opponent," Ardern said during a press conference in Wellington. The education mandate covers all front-line staff who work in schools, and early childhood education. The Royal New Zealand College of General Practitioners, the professional body for community doctors, as well as the nurses union have come out in support of the mandate. General Practice New Zealand, an advocacy group for GPs, has even gone a step further, encouraging public health organizations to report ''anti-vax'' doctors to the Medical Council. Both teachers unions — the PPTA and NZEI — have also supported the move, with limited caveats. — Agencies
