Epidemiologist Rod Jackson says it is too early to be dropping mandates while New Zealand is at its peak of COVID-19 cases.
Cabinet will meet on Monday afternoon to review New Zealand's current COVID-19 restrictions.
On AM's panel, Jackson said it's two to four weeks too early to drop any public health measures.
"We are not over this yet and if you look all around the world some countries go up and then all the way down, other counties stay up. We don't want to be in a yo-yo situation."
Royal New Zealand College of General Practitioners president Dr Bryan Betty agreed with Jackson, telling AM the timing in which mandates are dropped is key, especially with winter illnesses in the mix.
"We are also going to see flu, possibly whooping cough, possibly RSV, possibly other viral illnesses so it's going to become a very mixed picture."
While vaccine mandates may be dropped, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern told AM on Monday they won't be scratched for every workforce.
"It's not the case that you'll see us, for instance, drop them everywhere," she said. "We do believe there will still be circumstances, particularly where there are highly vulnerable individuals, where they will still have a use, but we'll be discussing today just how far that use is."
Jackson says hospitals are overwhelmed and are "right on the border of losing control". He says all public health measures need to remain until the peak of community cases is over.
Jackson added New Zealand's most vulnerable would be at risk if the Government scrapped the current public health measures.
"We know if you are unvaccinated you are three times more likely to transmit the virus to other people, you are more than twice as likely to have it right now, you're more than five times likely to be in hospital right now, so there are lots and lots of good reasons to maintain our vaccine passes."
Betty says one tool that could be dropped is the COVID-19 tracing app.
"You could see something like the QR codes that we use at the moment are things that need to go, they are probably are very little utility at this point."
Ministers are expected to make a decision on Monday but an announcement on the future of mandates won't be outlined until Wednesday.
