December 21, 2021
40,000 vaccine passes checked
An organiser of the Taitokerau Border Control says he appreciates the efforts Aucklanders are taking to keep whānau in the north safe from Covid-19.
Two fixed checkpoints at which iwi volunteers assisted police have now been taken down, with police switching to mobile patrols and random stops across the region.
Reuben Taipari says in the five days they were in action the checkpoints processed almost 40,000 cars, almost half of those travelling through, and the vast majority had vaccine passports.
“Credit to Auckland, credit to our communities and our people out there understanding the way we feel in the north about the protection of our elders and out vulnerable, thank you very much to everybody, all the travellers who came all over and not just the whānau Māori but all those who came out. Thank you very much,” he says.
Reuben Taipari says the Taitokerau Border Control established a good rapport with the police, and the exercise countered perceptions they were vaccine vigilantes.