In order to protect Tāmaki Makaurau’s rainbow communities from COVID-19 and ensure a safe and successful festival, attendees of all events in the 2022 Auckland Pride Festival will be required to show proof of vaccination. While Auckland Pride’s Major Events will be subject to the Government’s mandate announced earlier this month, the Festival is taking this additional and proactive step to keep our communities safe.

“Auckland Pride’s COVID-19 response has always been about keeping our communities safe and protecting the Festival from disruptions caused by alert level changes, and high rates of vaccination achieves both” says Auckland Pride Executive Director Max Tweedie. “The COVID-19 vaccine is a safe and effective vaccine that will protect our communities from serious illness, safeguard those who cannot yet be vaccinated, and prevent our immunocompromised whānau from being exposed as much as possible.”

While the Government will provide more detail in November about the rollout of vaccine passes, Auckland Pride have made this in principle decision to provide time, clarity, and certainty to our community and event organisers. Auckland Pride will make further announcements about the details of their implementation across the Festival when the framework is released by the Government.

In the meantime, Tweedie is urging every member of the community to get vaccinated. “Our communities know intimately the pain of losing loved ones to an epidemic, and the importance of following public health measures to protect ourselves. I know that the uptake from our communities will be exceptionally high as a result, and so for those of us who are vaccinated, check in with loved ones and chosen family, ensure they have reliable information, and support them to be vaccinated.”

“We’ve made this decision to keep you safe, to keep loved ones who cannot be vaccinated safe, and to make sure we’re doing everything we can to protect our communities. While we don’t have the level of detail that we’d like yet, our message now is simple: get vaccinated.”

On Super Saturday, Auckland Pride worked with the Graham St vaccination centre to create a rainbow inclusive environment, and has worked with Auckland DHBs to provide pronoun cards to all DHB run vaccination sites across Tāmaki Makaurau to remove a barrier for transgender and gender diverse people to be vaccinated. 

Tweedie adds “The Government’s rollout should’ve been more equitable, with the needs of marginalised communities at the heart. We urge the Government to ensure that the same mistakes won’t be made with vaccine passes, and that there will be a clear process for trans and gender diverse individuals whose identity documents and vaccine records don’t match up.”

Auckland Pride would also like the Government to provide an exemption and testing regime for those who cannot be vaccinated for legitimate medical reasons and provide further clarity around employment and health and safety laws with respect to vaccinations, so these mandates can be rolled out effectively. 

Auckland Pride will continue to work with health officials on these issues and to ensure that we’re following the latest health advice to protect our communities.