The unvaccinated are now able to mingle among other Kiwis at hospitality venues and large event gatherings after vaccine pass rules were ditched overnight.
They'll also be able to enter certain public sector and close contact roles now that vaccine requirements have been dropped for some previously-mandated workforces.
The changes came into effect at 11:59pm on Monday night, the second tranche of adjustments the Government has recently made to New Zealand's COVID-19 response after removing outdoor gathering limits, increasing indoor gathering sizes and dropping QR code scanning.
In announcing the shift in March, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said vaccine passes were no longer as effective as they once were as the vast majority of New Zealanders are now vaccinated and many of those who aren't "are likely to have had COVID".
"We now have 95 percent vaccinated, plus a number more who will have built some immunity from the illness itself," Ardern said. "We said some weeks ago that when we started to come down off the peak the reason for keeping vaccine passes changes."
The April 4 date was chosen as modelling showed that New Zealand should be coming off its Omicron peak at roughly that point. Auckland was already seeing a drop in cases when Ardern made the announcement on March 23 and the rest of the country was believed to be about two weeks behind. That's borne out, with cases trending downwards for the past two weeks.
However, those without a vaccine pass may still find they are stopped from entering some businesses, events and venues as the Government is allowing those who wish to continue to use the passes to do so.
"We will maintain the systems in place and update the passes over time, to include boosters. But, for now, they will no longer be mandated," Ardern said.
"I say 'for now', as I will still provide the same disclaimer that every country realistically must: that, should there be a variant that demands it or a change in circumstances, we may need them again. But for post-peak, that will no longer be the case."
Previously, under the red traffic light setting, if vaccine passes weren't used, hospitality had to be contactless, gatherings could only include 10 people and close contact businesses like gyms or hairdressers couldn't operate.
Mandates have also been removed for many workforces where vaccines were previously required. They'll still be applied in health, the aged-case sector, corrections, and for border or MIQ workers, but no longer for education, police, and defence as well as for businesses that used to have to use vaccine passes.
"Whether or not these workplaces will continue to need to be vaccinated to do their work will be a decision for their employers or those otherwise responsible for those workforces," Ardern said.
Businesses will be able to undertake a health and safety assessment to determine if they can have a vaccine requirement in their workplace, Workplace Relations and Safety Minister Michael Wood said in March. COVID-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins said employers may want to get legal advice on whether they can retain mandates.
"Employers may still be able to maintain vaccination requirements where they continue to be supported by a workplace health and safety risk assessment, but the reason will need to be specific to their role and set of circumstances," Wood said last week.
"We would anticipate this will significantly reduce the use of vaccine requirements in most settings and the circumstances are likely to be more limited than they have in the past now that Omicron has entered the community."
The rationale is clear for why some sectors will still have vaccine mandates, Ardern said.
"These are either workers supporting our most vulnerable, or they work in high-risk environments where spread would be rapid or the exposure to new variants is high."
The Government has asked its health officials whether the requirements in sectors like health could be narrowed as they currently cover thousands of workers.
Vaccine passes were introduced last year as a tool to incentivise Kiwis to be vaccinated and give confidence to people that they were in a safe environment, while mandates helped reduce the likelihood that people in high-risk roles could spread the virus.
While most New Zealanders have been vaccinated against COVID-19, a small, vocal number have expressed opposition to the mandates.
It was one of the primary issues that prompted hundreds of people to occupy Parliament's grounds and surrounding streets throughout February and early March.
Ardern stressed that removing mandates was not a result of pressure from the protesters but in recognition of the modelled declining cases and high vaccination rates.
A Newshub investigation in February found more than 2600 workers had been stood down across the Government sectors that required vaccination.
It's difficult to know how many have been removed from their jobs across private businesses, but a Restaurant Association survey in January found 40 percent of members reported losing some staff as a result of the mandate.
