Department of Conservation considering COVID-19 vaccine requirements for trampers

The Department of Conservation says it's working to understand what the traffic light system will mean for its tracks and huts.
The Department of Conservation says it's working to understand what the traffic light system will mean for its tracks and huts. Photo credit: Image - Getty Images

By Tessa Burton for RNZ

The Department of Conservation (DOC) is considering whether people will need to be vaccinated against Covid-19 to access huts, tracks and other facilities.

Trampers are already asked to practice physical distancing, and use QR codes or book at huts to enable contact tracing.

DOC southern South Island operations director Aaron Fleming said the department was considering all of the options, including potentially requiring trampers to be vaccinated if they wanted to access DOC walks or huts.

"We're doing a lot of work at the moment to understand as Covid is looking to move around the country what that means for the likes of some of our tracks or huts," Fleming said.

"As we move into the traffic light system as well, what does that mean for these experiences.

"We haven't answered those questions yet but we're certainly doing the work to try and understand what the impact may be."

DOC should have a firmer stance within the next few weeks, he said.