MEDIA RELEASE
8 November 2021
“Don’t Div ide Us” Campaign Launched
A family advocate and an educational leader (also a registered nurse with a PhD in aged care) are making a joint application to get a rapid COVID test authorised in New Zealand so that thousands of kiwis don’t lose their jobs on the 16thNovember under the Government’s proposed ‘no jab no job’ mandate.
A joint application has been made to import, distribute and use The Sienna Covid-19 Rapid Antigen Test on behalf of workplaces, community groups, places of faith, and families who have workers or family members who with good conscience do not want to take the vaccine.
The rapid antigen test has been approved by the FDA. It is a self-contained Naso-pharyngeal test, needing no machine, is up to 99% accurate, takes 10 minutes to get the result, and affordable for those who don’t want to take the vaccine.
It will be the obligation of those not jabbed to provide proof of regular testing. This alternative approach will – as the FDA recently said – help meet the public health needs as we respond to COVID.
While both applicants have chosen to be double-jabbed and support the vaccination programme, they are justifiably concerned that New Zealanders may be excluded from their teaching or nursing job, or sporting career, or going to their marae, going to church or the mosque or the gym or hair salon, university to study, weddings, visiting family members in prison, attending events – and there are many other examples – because they have chosen out of good consciencenot to be vaccinated.
We are looking for a reasonable and workable middle ground that doesn’t divide the country and set family members against each other.
A divided society with a ‘no jab no job’ mandate does not sit well with many New Zealanders – even those who support the vaccine programme. Unfortunately, under the current proposal by the Government, thousands and thousands of kiwis are going to lose their jobs in the next couple of weeks. It’s just not the kiwi way.
With new developments on treatments, the approach to COVID is constantly evolving. We need a cautious approach – but also flexibility as we learn more about the disease and treatment.
We have received support from teachers, education leaders, medical professionals, politicians, and church leaders from a number of faiths for this middle-ground approach.
An accompanying petition “Don’t Divide Us.nz” has also been launched – “We oppose the ‘no jab no job’ policy, which will create a divided New Zealand. We call on the Government to allow the use of COVID rapid antigen testing as an alternative for unvaccinated kiwis to access workplaces, schools, maraes, large gatherings, and places of worship.”
We call for an approach to COVID that targets the disease without dividing the country.
ENDS
