The vaccine remains New Zealand’s key defence against all variants of Covid-19, including Omicron.

On Monday, the vaccine will be available for 5 to 11 year olds to get protected against Covid-19. We encourage all parents with children in this age group to take them to get vaccinated. A full list of vaccination centres can be found on the Healthpoint website.

The Ministry continues to ask everyone who is eligible to get vaccinated. We are strongly recommending boosters for anyone over the age of 18 who had their second dose of the vaccine at least four months ago.

Today we are reporting 25 people at the border with Covid-19. New Zealand continues to see many border cases arriving from overseas, reflecting the growing number of Omicron cases globally.

The seven-day rolling average of border cases is 30.

As part of our collective preparations for Omicron please check your details are up to date with your regular healthcare provider and in the Covid-19 Tracer app.

Covid-19 vaccine update

• Vaccines administered to date (percentage of eligible people): 3,987,935 first doses (95%); 3,893,786 second doses (93%); 35,223 third primary doses; 719,966 booster doses
• Vaccines administered yesterday: 1459 first doses; 3334 second doses; 589 third primary doses and 40,880 booster doses.
• Māori (percentage of eligible people): 505,941 first doses (89%); 474,801 second doses (83%).
• Pacific Peoples (percentage of eligible people): 274,184 first doses (96%); 264,680 second doses (92%).

Vaccination rates by DHB with active cases (percentage of eligible people)

• Northland DHB: First doses (89%); second doses (86%)
• Auckland Metro DHBs: First doses (97%); second doses (95%)
• Waikato DHB: First doses (94%); second doses (92%)
• Bay of Plenty DHB: First doses (94%); second doses (91%)
• Lakes DHB: First doses (92%); second doses (89%)
• Wairarapa DHB: First doses (96%); second doses (93%)
• Capital and Coast DHB: First doses (98%); second doses (97%)
• Hutt Valley DHB: First doses (96%); second doses (94%)
• Canterbury DHB: First doses (99%); second doses (97%)

Hospitalisations

• Cases in hospital: 29; North Shore: 5; Auckland: 8; Middlemore: 12; Tauranga: 4.
• Vaccination status of current hospitalisations (Northern Region wards only): Unvaccinated or not eligible (7 cases / 29.2%); partially immunised <7 days from second dose or have only received one dose (8 case / 33.3%); fully vaccinated at least 7 days before being reported as a case (8 cases / 33.3%); unknown (1 case / 4.2%).
• Average age of current hospitalisations: 47
• Cases in ICU or HDU: Middlemore: 1; Tauranga: 1

Cases

• Seven day rolling average of community cases: 25
• Seven day rolling average of border cases: 30
• Number of new community cases: 29
• Number of new cases identified at the border: 25
• Location of new community cases: Northland (2), Auckland (11), Bay of Plenty (1), Lakes (14), Wellington (1),
• Number of community cases (total): 11,281 (in current community outbreak)
• Cases epidemiologically linked (total): 8559
• Number of active cases (total): 572 (cases identified in the past 21 days and not yet classified as recovered)
• Confirmed cases (total): 14,626

Contacts

• Number of active contacts being managed (total): 4746
• Percentage who has received an outbound call from contact tracers (to confirm testing and isolation requirements): 81%
• Percentage who has returned at least one result: 80%

Tests

• Number of tests total (last 24 hours): 15,173
• Tests rolling average (last 7 days): 14,918
• Auckland tests total (last 24 hours): 6,977

Wastewater

• No unexpected results.

NZ Covid Tracer

• Poster scans in the 24 hours to midday yesterday: 2,614,917
• Manual diary entries in the 24 hours to midday: 39,795

My Vaccine Pass

• My vaccine pass downloads total: 4,787,106
• My vaccine pass downloads (last 24 hours): 14,384

New cases identified at the border

Today’s cases

We are reporting new community cases in Northland, Auckland, Bay of Plenty, Lakes and Wellington.

Regional updates

We are continuing to ask anyone in New Zealand with symptoms – no matter how mild – to get tested, even if you’re vaccinated. Please stay at home until you return a negative test result.  We are also asking people to regularly check the locations of interest as these are regularly updated and to follow the advice provided.

Testing and vaccination centre locations nationwide can be found on the Healthpoint website.

Please also continue to check for any updated Locations of Interest and appropriate health advice, updated regularly on the Ministry’s website.

Northland

There are two new cases to report in Kaikohe today. They are from the same household and are in isolation. Investigations are underway to determine how they are linked to the current outbreak.

There are currently four active cases in Northland.

Auckland

There are 11 cases to report in Auckland today.

Health and welfare providers are now supporting 850 people in the region to isolate at home, including 180 cases.

Auckland MIQ worker

An Auckland based MIQ worker returned a positive result for Covid-19 late yesterday afternoon and is currently in isolation.

The test was taken as part of routine border worker surveillance testing.

Whole genome sequencing is being carried out to determine what variant the infection is and the results will be reported in tomorrow’s 1pm Covid-19 update.

Investigations are underway to determine if the infection originated from the community or the facility.

The worker is fully vaccinated and up-to-date with regular testing.

Household contacts of the MIQ worker all returned negative tests last night.

All Managed Isolation and Quarantine facilities follow very strict Infection Prevention and Control (IPC) measures developed by the Ministry of Health to manage the risks of spreading COVID-19, and workers in MIQ facilities undergo regular routine testing.

Bay of Plenty

There is one case in Western Bay of Plenty to report.

The case is linked to a previously reported case and was already isolating when they tested positive.

Lakes

There are 14 cases to report in Lakes today.

The cases are all in Rotorua and 11 of them are linked to previously reported cases.

Investigations are underway to determine any links for the unlinked cases.

Wellington

There is one case to report in Wellington City today.

The case is a household contact of a previously reported case and was already isolating when they tested positive.