Dewar, JanBarbarich-Unasa, Te WaiPacheco, GailMeehan, LisaWilson, Denise2025-09-292025-09-292025-03-12Kōtuitui: New Zealand Journal of Social Sciences Online, ISSN: 1177-083X (Print); 1177-083X (Online), Informa UK Limited, 20(4), 1008-1027. doi: 10.1080/1177083x.2025.24765741177-083X1177-083Xhttp://hdl.handle.net/10292/19877Aotearoa New Zealand (Aotearoa), like many countries, experienced widespread demand for health services, threatening to collapse the health system. In addition to stringent border control, isolation policies for those with COVID-19, and instituting lockdowns, the government imposed a COVID-19 vaccine mandate for groups of essential workers, including healthcare professionals. Some literature argues that the COVID-19 vaccine mandates restrict individuals’ freedoms through the loss of employment, income, and status as a healthcare professional. This qualitative research explored how COVID-19 vaccine mandates impacted healthcare professionals. Data from eight in-depth interviews with former healthcare professionals who experienced termination of their employment, and four managers or business owners were thematically analysed. The theme, Mandate-Induced Traumatic Decision-Making and Loss and two sub-themes, A Change in Attitudes and Ongoing Impacts on Lives, were identified. We found the COVID-19 vaccine mandates had detrimental impacts on those healthcare professionals affected by their decision not to have or complete COVID-19 vaccinations. Despite what participants believed were legitimate reasons for not being vaccinated, they experienced ongoing trauma and psychological, unemployment, and financial harm. The findings question the public good benefits of the vaccine mandate when it restricts the freedom, autonomy, and agency of much-needed healthcare professionals, which provide useful insights.© 2025 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/), which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. The terms on which this article has been published allow the posting of the Accepted Manuscript in a repository by the author(s) or with their consent.http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/4203 Health Services and Systems42 Health Sciences44 Human SocietyCoronaviruses Disparities and At-Risk PopulationsImmunizationInfectious DiseasesVaccine RelatedBehavioral and Social ScienceHealth ServicesCoronavirusesClinical ResearchEmerging Infectious DiseasesPreventionGeneric health relevance3 Good Health and Well BeingJournal ArticleOpenAccess10.1080/1177083x.2025.2476574