Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern says New Zealanders have given up some freedoms in the pandemic, but vaccination has given them back, as a convoy of protestors angry at mandates makes its way to Parliament.
Protestors in cars and trucks have been making their way across the country to meet in Wellington, emulating a similar protest in Canada.
Ardern will not be meeting the protestors at Parliament on Tuesday. She told across the pandemic New Zealanders had given up freedoms to ensure the health of the community, and that is ending now.
"Ninety-six percent of New Zealanders have gone out and got a vaccination, which has enabled us to live now with fewer restrictions, because of the extra protection that has provided."
The protest comes as the country's Omicron outbreak stalls at around 200 cases. Daily cases reached a new high on Saturday of 243, but since then have dropped with 208 new cases on Sunday, and 188 on Monday.
Ardern said if New Zealand's case numbers follow the same trajectory as South Australia a peak could see 10,000 new cases a day, but if it tracked similarly to other cities overseas like New York it would be around 30,00.
"It is widely variable, and ultimately, the defining feature of where we will peak will be booster uptake. The more people who take a booster, the lower the likelihood of our peak.
"In terms of timeframe, again, this is something that early days, we're basically assessing based on other countries, but I would say not this month. It looks more like it's in the 60-day order for most countries, so more likely later in March."
