9.1 Taking stock Te whakaaroaro: he kōrero mō te urupare ki te mate urutā

Introduction | Kupu whakataki

At the start of this ‘Looking Back’ section, we said it would not be a detailed chronological account of the entire pandemic and the Government’s response. Instead, it has focused on some elements of both that affected people particularly deeply, presented the biggest challenges to decision-makers, and had lasting consequences (both unavoidable and avoidable) for individuals, whānau, society and the economy.

We have therefore assessed the use of lockdowns, the closing of the border and the introduction of compulsory quarantine and isolation. We have examined how the health system functioned throughout the pandemic, and the care available to those affected by (or vulnerable to) COVID-19 as well as people needing treatment or services for other health issues. We have looked at the acquisition and rollout of vaccines, and the use of compulsory measures to achieve public health benefits. We have assessed the management of the economy and the provision of economic and social supports, as well as the engine that drove the entire response: the Government’s pre-pandemic preparations and the plans, systems and strategies it formulated over time.

These are the areas where we think we can most usefully put our insights to work, in the form of the lessons for the future and recommendations set out in the next section. While consistent with our overall assessment that Aotearoa New Zealand’s response (enabled by the hard work and sacrifice of many individuals) was among the best in the world, they also reflect our conviction that the response to the next pandemic must be even better.

But before turning to the future, we want to take stock of our learnings looking back. Our analysis and assessment of what happened in the period 2020–2022 has – inevitably, but artificially – uncoupled the elements of the pandemic response from one another. But if we consider them collectively, what are they telling us? If we were to explain Aotearoa New Zealand’s pandemic response to a future generation who did not live through it, what story would we tell? We think it would unfold something like this.