Labour leader Chris Hipkins has addressed the initial findings of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into New Zealand’s COVID-19 response.

The report criticises the government’s handling of vaccine mandates, saying they were applied too broadly and remained in place for too long.

Speaking to Newstalk ZB’s Heather du Plessis-Allan, Hipkins acknowledged the report’s findings, saying, “Do I think the vaccine mandates went a bit too wide? Yes, I actually accept that finding.”

However, he said the challenges of decision-making during the pandemic, saying that many conclusions in the report were drawn with the “benefit of hindsight.”

Du Plessis-Allan pressed Hipkins on a January 2022 cabinet briefing that indicated reduced vaccine effectiveness against the Omicron variant.

She questioned why mandates remained in place until September 2022 despite this information.

Hipkins responded, “That’s only one paragraph or one sentence out of what was quite a long and detailed briefing.

“We’re weighing up a whole lot of factors at the time. None of these decisions were easy and none of them were straightforward.”

When asked if he owed an apology to those who lost their jobs due to the mandates, Hipkins said, “I want to read the report first before I make any decisions.”