Vaccine rule pumps up home gym use

Personal trainer Bobbie Brain is now out of a job, but she’s fine with it because it was her choice.

Brain isn’t vaccinated against Covid-19 and doesn’t know if she will do it later.

But for now, the Wa¯ naka trainer is joining several other fitness industry workers in an ‘‘unvaccinated underbelly’’: those who provide their services outside the gym but within the rules.

New Zealand moved to the new traffic light system yesterday. It means trainers and gym-goers must have vaccine passes to use facilities under the red and orange settings.

Those who choose not to are barred from gyms, but can train with number limits and physical distancing elsewhere.

Gym owners caught allowing a member of the public in without a vaccine pass can be fined $15,000.

Under the green setting, gyms without vaccine passes will be limited to 100 people, based on 1-metre distancing

Brain’s decision not to get vaccinated meant she had to leave her job at the commercial gym she was using. She is now training clients at a private venue.

She considered getting the vaccine to keep her job but decided not to because she felt ‘‘forced into it’’.

‘‘I don’t agree with being pushed into it. I feel it is discrimination when you start forcing it.

‘‘I am very gutted. It has taken me so long to build up this business and meeting such great clients, to lose it all. And now I am having to walk away from it – that is how strongly I believe in this.’’

Brain said she had not lost any clients by revealing her vaccination status.

Several others in the fitness industry were taking the same stance.

In Wa¯ naka, three yoga studios had decided to close their doors as the mandate came in: Hot Yoga Fusion, Body Garage, and Yoga Ground.

Yoga Ground owner Susan Allen has been in the industry 20 years and said it was ‘‘always clear we wouldn’t be part of vaccine certificates’’.

‘‘It’s actually not really about if our clients are vaccinated or if we are vaccinated. It is about the freedom of choice.’’

Allen refused to comment on her own vaccination status.

Gym gear provider Elite Fitness had seen a 300 per cent increase in the sale and hiring of gym gear over the last six months.

General manager Gary Milnes said the business was struggling to keep up with demand. ‘‘Customers can’t go to the gym if they are not vaccinated, so they are taking care of it themselves, building a home gym and working out at home.’’

Snap Fitness franchise manager Bryce Cope said a considerable number of gym members had cancelled or postponed their memberships as they were not double vaccinated.

‘‘We have had a few frustrated customers, some bad feedback, but it isn’t us enforcing these rules. We didn’t have another option but to use this. You either stay closed and wait until green, or use the certificates.’’

Snap Fitness staff members had been working overtime to check the vaccination status of their members. Anyone who had not confirmed by yesterday would have their access card deactivated.

A spokesperson for the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet said gyms and fitness facilities were considered high risk and the use of vaccine passes would remain ‘‘until further notice’’.

‘‘The Covid-19 Protection Framework is central to our new minimise and protect strategy and is intended to give as much certainty and stability as possible for people and businesses, reducing the need for widespread lockdowns while protecting our health system. Workplaces covered by My Vaccine Pass requirements will also need to ensure all workers are vaccinated.’’

Several unvaccinated fitness workers The Press spoke with said they would be more comfortable testing for Covid-19 on a regular basis than getting the vaccine.

The Ministry of Health said the vaccine was the best protection.

‘‘Testing . . . is not a replacement for being vaccinated. Test results only reflect a point in time, so someone may return a negative result but could still be incubating the virus.’’

Those who caught the virus after being vaccinated were less likely to get severely ill, the ministry said.

Another unvaccinated personal trainer working in Central Otago said she had kept her clients and was working within the distancing rules. She was disappointed many of her friends had chosen to lose work and jobs because of their stance.

Brain admitted some would see her view as selfish, and she was happy to be proven wrong.

She said it was too soon for her to feel comfortable getting the vaccine. She feared experiencing side effects as she came from a long list of women with heart conditions.

Immunisation Advisory Centre director Professor Nikki Turner earlier told The Press the number of Kiwis who could not get the vaccine because of medical reasons was fewer than 100. They included people with a history of anaphylaxis and those who had severe reactions to the first dose.