Wellington [New Zealand], November 26 (ANI/Xinhua): The New Zealand Police and all New Zealand Defense Force staff have become the new groups required to be vaccinated in preparation for the transition to the new COVID-19 Protection Framework on December 3.

First doses of the vaccine for workers in these organizations are required by Jan. 17, 2022, and second doses by March 1, 2022, Workplace Relations and Safety Minister Michael Wood said on Friday.

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These groups are added to the list of sectors covered by vaccination, which includes Managed Isolation and Quarantine (MIQ) and border work, healthcare, education and prisons.

Vaccine requirements have been extended to include constabulary, recruits and authorized officers of New Zealand Police, and the armed forces and civilian staff of the New Zealand Defense Force, Wood said in a statement.

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"Vaccine mandates are very strong legal requirements that have to be carefully considered based on a clear assessment about how justifiable they are," he said, adding that a simple vaccination assessment tool will be available for businesses in mid-December to help streamline the process.

New Zealand reported 173 new Delta variant cases of COVID-19 in the community on Friday, bringing the total number of confirmed cases in the country's current community outbreak to 7,832.

To date, 92 per cent of eligible people in New Zealand have had their first dose and 85 per cent are fully vaccinated, according to the Ministry of Health. (ANI/Xinhua)

(The above story is verified and authored by ANI staff, ANI is South Asia's leading multimedia news agency with over 100 bureaus in India, South Asia and across the globe. ANI brings the latest news on Politics and Current Affairs in India & around the World, Sports, Health, Fitness, Entertainment, & News. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)