Workplace Relations and Safety Minister Michael Wood says Covid-19 vaccine mandates aren't likely to be permanent, but they don't have a fixed end point.
The government yesterday announced vaccination would be mandatory at all businesses where customers are required to brandish their own vaccination certificates - at restaurants, gyms and barbers, among others.
No ifs, ands or buts, the government says, and no legal repercussions for employers who fire the unvaccinated.
National Party leader Judith Collins told Morning Report vaccine certificates must be dropped once the country reaches 90 percent immunisation across all District Health Boards.
In response, Wood told Morning Report deadlines aren't the right approach.
"Anyone who has absolute certainty, says that this will happen in 12 to 18 months' time, has been proven to be wrong every single time.
"The way to move forward with this is to put clear measures in place, to constantly review them, and to put public safety at the heart of things instead of setting arbitrary deadlines, which seems to be what the Leader of the Opposition [Judith Collins] is proposing."
Wood said the certificates would give people certainty that if they are required to be vaccinated to go somewhere the person who serves them would be too.
It also provided protection for those who are unable be vaccinated, for example those who are too young to get the vaccine.
"It would make no sense to have this certainty in place up to the point that we got to 90 percent and then to remove it afterwards, which is exactly the time at which we're trying to give people confidence and certainty that activities can occur."
