The country will reopen in phases starting in 2022.

While New Zealand has experienced delays in the vaccination effort against COVID-19, thanks to the country’s government employing a strict policy of containment, cases have been kept under control. Since the beginning of the pandemic, New Zealand has only recorded 2,500 cases and 26 deaths. However, as private businesses face pressure due to labor and shipping shortages, pressure has been increasing on the government to reopen the borders to foreign travelers. According to Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, that reopening isn’t coming just yet, but will be here soon.

“We’re simply not in a position to fully reopen just yet,” Ardern said in a speech.

“When we move we will be careful and deliberate, because we want to move with confidence and with as much certainty as possible,” she said.

To this end, New Zealand will first wait until the end of 2021 to get a more complete picture of the global pandemic effort. Following that, the country will begin allowing in fully vaccinated travelers in a gradual rollout starting in early 2022. The first phase of the rollout will only allow travelers from low-risk countries that haven’t experienced a significant amount of COVID cases, the second phase will allow travelers from medium-risk countries under requirement of self-isolation, and the third phase will allow travelers from high-risk countries under requirement of a full two-week quarantine.

Arden stressed that the government will be maintaining its elimination strategy to keep cases under control until further notice, but she stressed that this will not be a permanent policy. “That is not to say that the settings we have today, will be the settings we have forever. Nobody wants that,” she said.