It is time to move away from a "reactive isolationist response" and lower the draw bridge to the outside world, according to one health expert.
In an editorial for the Internal Medicine Journal Auckland University Professor of Medicine Des Gorman argues for a dedicated pandemic response agency as we move to next phase of our Covid-19 recovery.
The agency would develop a pandemic plan, border and quarantine management, tracing and isolation capacity.
Next week the Prime Minister will reveal her thinking around border restrictions and how the vaccination rollout could change that.
Professor Gorman discusses the issue with Lisa Owen.
