New Zealand plans to allow quarantine-free entry to vaccinated travellers from low-risk countries from early 2022, as part of a phased reopening of its borders that have been shut since last March due to the pandemic.

Prime minister Jacinda Ardern said on Thursday (August 12) that the government will adopt a new individual risk-based approach for quarantine-free travel from the first quarter of 2022.

Vaccinated travellers from low-risk countries may be allowed to enter New Zealand quarantine-free from 1Q2022; a girl wearing a mask strolling in front of Auckland CBD pictured

Vaccinated travellers from low-risk countries can enter the country quarantine-free. Those travelling from medium-risk countries will have to undertake self-isolation or a shorter stay at a quarantine hotel, while those coming from high-risk countries will have to serve a 14-day quarantine.

“We’re simply not in a position to a fully reopen just yet. When we move, we will be careful and deliberate, because we want to move with confidence and with as much certainty as possible,” Ardern said in a speech detailing plans to reconnect New Zealand with the world.

Some vaccinated travellers will be able to participate in a pilot from October through December this year, wherein they can travel and self-isolate at home.

New Zealand has been widely lauded as a success story in combating the coronavirus – the South Pacific nation of five million people has recorded just 2,500 cases and 26 deaths since the pandemic began. But the government has come under increasing pressure to reopen borders as businesses and the public sector struggle with worker shortages.