Hon CHRIS HIPKINS (Minister for COVID-19 Response): The year 2022 represents the third year of the COVID-19 pandemic, and we begin this year with a plan to keep us as safe as possible and to keep the country moving forward. Our guiding principle for the last two years has been to protect the lives and livelihoods of New Zealanders, and that's what we've done. Our confirmed cases, our hospitalisations, and our deaths have been the lowest in the OECD for the past two years. Our goal is to continue this trend. Vaccination will continue to be one of our greatest defences against the virus, and the roll-out of the booster and paediatric campaigns will be essential in obtaining the overall high rates of vaccination across all population groups but particularly our elderly, our immunocompromised, and others who are at risk. As we build our collective immunisation, we will be commencing our reconnection with the rest of the world.