The Government received advice on drive-thru vaccinations just weeks ago, which has prompted criticism of their preparation of a COVID-19 outbreak.
Documents show the Government was given advice from the Ministry of Health on August 5, just weeks ago, and months after countries such as the UK, Canada and Australia had already adopted the practice.
"The advice the ministry gives depends on the questions the ministers ask. If they only got the advice in August, when did the ministers ask the question?" says ACT leader David Seymour.
"It shows that this Government just has not been focused on the things that really matter, such as how you get vaccinated and how you get vaccinated if there's an epidemic."
Seymour says the Government is "not only complacent" but has a "really poor understanding of risk", and should have been planning for drive-thru vaccination centres sooner, because of their effectiveness during outbreaks.
The Government was advised that, at alert levels 2 to 4, "It is likely that a drive-through service model (which has inherent physical distancing) will become a more efficient option, maintaining vaccination capacity while providing a means to minimise COVID-19 transmission."
Seymour said the Government should have acted quicker.
"If we have drive-thru vaccination now, people could stay in their bubble, be vaccinated, and the only people they would come into contact with would be medical workers with full PPE [personal protective equipment]," he says.
"In the context of Delta, which seems to be able to spread through the air, that is absolutely critical. It would allow us to continue with safe vaccination under level 4 conditions.
"But the Government simply did not think about this and now they're scrambling and creating chaos by cancelling vaccinations."
With news that a COVID-19 case had been detected in the community after almost six months of no community transmission, the Government's announcement that vaccinations would be put on pause for what could be 48 hours caused alarm.
The Ministry of Health has since confirmed four additional cases, all linked to the original case - a Devonport man in his 50s. The other four cases are linked to the Devonport man - a co-worker who appears to have passed it on.
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, appearing on The AM Show on Wednesday, said she doubts it would take 48 hours, and also revealed the Ministry of Health is working up protocols to roll out drive-thru vaccinations to help ramp up the roll-out.
"They've asked for just a bit of time to orientate and then they're keen to reopen. I believe it will be less than 48 hours. We're looking to give an update at 1pm today," she said of the vaccination roll-out pause.
"Our Health team has also been working on protocols around, for instance, the opportunity for drive-thru vaccination. So we'll give an update on that at 1pm today, but I anticipate it will not take 24 hours to reopen."
The Ministry of Health's advice on drive-thru vaccinations shows how careful planning is required to ensure the right locations are chosen to avoid traffic jams, and that patients are observed long enough to watch for reactions.
"Instruct consumers how to attract attention if they feel unwell - for example, by sounding their horns or waving," it says.
"Plan how you will keep track of observation timing for each vehicle and inform consumers when they can leave. For example, by writing the time on the windscreen."
A diagram shows how the centres would operate.
"It is recommended to use marquees or other covers for the registration, consent and vaccination areas, to protect people and equipment from wet weather. Ensure that marquees are fixed with sandbags or other weights."
The drive-thru site must be large enough to include adequate space for vehicles to queue for registration without impacting on other traffic, as well as parking space for at least 20 minutes during the observation period.
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern will provide an udate at 1pm.
