Kate Hawkesby: Epidemiologists are risking becoming obsolete

Promising signs on the horizon. Auckland’s going to get to 90 percent vaxxed soon, fingers crossed, and that’s going to force this Government to open some stuff up. And by stuff, I mean the border. The shops. The Auckland boundary. Normality is calling. Not for the people still steeped in fear and “freaking out” like Rod Jackson and Siousxie Wiles. Unfortunately, in going hard and early on the fear mongering, and in pursuing it for so long, there’s still a large chunk of New Zealanders trapped inside the fear and unable to get out. These are the same people craving another level 4 lockdown. The epidemiologists - given so much airtime and limelight throughout this pandemic, risk becoming increasingly obsolete and irrelevant. They’re not on message anymore, the Government now distancing itself and making calls that the academics disapprove of. A classic example of this is the new traffic light system the Government wants to implement to replace levels. Most of their “experts” poo pooed this idea as “not fit for purpose”. Yet as far as the Government is concerned, they’ve ‘consulted’ on it so that’s that. Arrogance means you just have to go through the motions, you don’t actually have to listen or act on anything, you just give them a platform to speak, nod politely, and move on. This modus operandi is this Governments forte. In fact, these experts should be grateful they got any consultation at all. So, what will happen today then? Well certainly not level 4 as the panickers would like, in fact I think more freedoms are coming. They know tolerance for lockdowns is through the floor, they know they’re taking a hit politically on the MIQ shambles, they will only tolerate so much political damage.  So, despite cloaking it all under the veil of a “health response” what we'll see in the coming weeks will all be political. Opening the border for Kiwis to come for Christmas will be a ballsy but welcome move, opening CBDs and retail, getting people back to the dentist and the hairdresser and the physio, allowing Aucklanders to escape T ā maki MaCovid. This all needs to start rolling out over the next few weeks surely. The pace at which they move here is key. Quick enough to get the ball rolling in time for Christmas, but slow enough not to infuriate the chicken littles running round saying the sky will fall in. It’s a balancing act, and one they need to weigh up in good enough time for Kiwis to get their much-promised summer.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.