New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern boasted that the island nation's new COVID-19 policies would restrict freedoms for those who have yet not been vaccinated, according to The Telegraph. The new policies are described as a two-tiered system made up of vaccinated and unvaccinated.

In a video interview captured by Disclose.tv, Ardern bragged that unvaccinated people would enjoy fewer freedoms than those who have been vaccinated against COVID-19 after a journalist from the New Zealand Herald asked, "you've basically said, and you probably don't see it like this, but two different classes of people if you're vaccinated or unvaccinated. If you're vaccinated, you have all these rights?"

"That is what it is," Ardern replied, smiling, "yep."

On Friday, Ardern announced that 90% of New Zealand's population needed to be vaccinated in each region before the government could implement its new "traffic light" system.

The way the traffic light system will work can be likened to a fire danger level, with a red light being the biggest risk to state healthcare facilities. At the red light level, where the country is expected to start once 90% vaccination is achieved, those who are not vaccinated, which includes a large portion of the country's Māori population, will enjoy fewer freedoms.

"As of Sunday, only 58 percent of the population is fully vaccinated," The Telegraph reported. Additionally, New Zealand has only recorded only 28 deaths and 5,638 cases since the pandemic began.

"If you are still unvaccinated, not only will you be more at risk of catching Covid-19, but many of the freedoms others enjoy will be out of reach," Ardern said. "No one wants that to happen but we need to minimise the threat of the virus, which is now mainly spreading amongst unvaccinated people."

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