Government boosts number of workers receiving COVID-19 Response Award

The New Zealand government is expanding the number of workers who will receive a COVID-19 Response Recognition Award.

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said various groups of frontline workers would be receiving the prestigious award.

"We have subsequently considered other workforces who delivered key parts of the COVID-19 response and, as a result, further recipients of the award will be the border, testing, contact tracing, and vaccination workforces along with the doctors and nurses who cared for patients with COVID-19," said Ardern.

This follows a previous statement that workers who served in Managed Isolation and Quarantine Facilities (MIQ) would receive the award.

80,000 pins for distribution

In the latest development, up to 80,000 lapel pins would be given later this month to MIQ facility teams, MIQ regional offices, MIQ head office, transport providers, community groups, Kiwi partnerships, and private providers.

The recognition will also include personnel from New Zealand Police, healthcare staff and the Aviation Security Service (Avsec), and members of the New Zealand Defence Force (NZDF) who were deployed to Operation Protect, according to the government.

Border workers who will receive the COVID-19 Response Recognition Award include members of the New Zealand Customs Service, Immigration New Zealand, the Ministry for Primary Industries, healthcare staff, NZDF, Maritime New Zealand, and Avsec.

"Their efforts were vital to our national response, and this award is one way we can recognise and thank them for stepping up during our most challenging days," Ardern said.

"Collectively, these individuals made an enormous contribution, whether it was through containing and stamping out COVID-19, putting protections in place to keep people safe, or caring for those who caught the virus," she added. "They stepped up, often at great personal risk and sacrifice, and we owe them a debt of gratitude for carrying that burden on behalf of us all."

There will also be an organisational award to recognise the collective effort of individuals from non-governmental organisations that supported the national COVID-19 response, according to Ardern.

Frontline workers have been receiving various types of recognition since the pandemic broke out due to their efforts in protecting the public. In 2021, internet provider Slingshot granted New Zealand's frontline workers with free internet for six months.

In Australia, supermarket chain Coles extended a one-time financial incentive to frontline staff as a "thank you" bonus during the pandemic.