Businesses bidding ka kite to mandatory vaccine pass checks say they are "overjoyed" with the possibility of fewer cancellations, and less work for staff.
From midnight tonight, hospitality and close-proximity businesses are no longer obligated to check vaccine passes - although masks and capacity limits are set to stay.
For Chrissy Morrish, who runs BarreOne Studio on Auckland's North Shore, it means no more carting fitness equipment around in her car to run two variations of her fitness classes.
She has been teaching her vaccinated clients in the studio, and her unvaccinated clients on a paved area outside Orewa Community Hall.
From tomorrow, they will no longer be "battling the elements" and having to keep distance from one another, she said.
"Everything changes, it's back to normal, which is incredible... it's a relief for me, but also my clients," she said.
Her relief was shared by people in the hospitality industry, including the co-owner of Vivace restaurant in central Auckland, Mandy Lusk.
She said the vaccine mandates had caused large bookings to cancel at the last minute, when people realised some of their group were not vaccinated.
Lusk said the requirement had also scared off some long-term customers, who she did not think would return.
"I think they thought as businesses we had a choice. But we didn't have a choice. So I'm really happy waking up tomorrow knowing that bit, at least, is over," she said.
An empty street near Vivace restaurant in central Auckland, its owner said the vaccine pass requirement had scared off some long term customers. Photo: RNZ / Marika Khabazi
Business owners can continue using vaccine passes, but Vivace will not be one of them.
"We are overjoyed that it's going. It felt a little bit, at times, like we were being blackmailed. We were being forced to become police, if you like, for something that discriminated against some people for their own beliefs. And it made it really, really, hard," Lusk said.
However that policing will still be required for masks and capacity limits, while the country remains at the red light setting.
Lusk expected most office workers would continue working from home until either the orange light, or after Anzac weekend, meaning foot traffic will remain subdued.
"To be honest, dropping to orange makes far more of a difference to us, than the vaccine mandate," she said.
A few streets away, the owner of the Shakespeare Hotel, Restaurant and Brewery was also eager to see the back of mask requirements and capacity limits.
Sunny Kaushal Of Shakespeare Hotel, Restaurant and Brewery. Photo: RNZ / Marika Khabazi
Sunny Kaushal said he had watched many businesses in the city centre crumble to the pressure of restrictions, and reduced patronage.
"Here in this street, this is the only one left surviving. All the big restaurants and bars have unfortunately shut down. They could not sustain, they could not survive [amid] mandates and vaccine pass stringent laws," he said.
But he described the lifting of mandatory vaccine checks as a "turning point" after a tough four months.
Kaushal said it was one less job for his staff to do, and he was looking forward to all of his customers having the chance to return "and have a good time with their mates and family".
