The Big Boost Week continues to see tens of thousands of people going out to get their booster dose each day. Yesterday, 20,739 boosters doses were administered despite the weather.

The vaccine remains our best defence against COVID-19. People who are vaccinated are less likely to get seriously unwell or be hospitalised than people who haven’t been vaccinated.

The booster vaccine offers a high level of protection against Omicron, so if it’s been three months since you got your second dose, please get your booster as soon as possible.

You can access a booster dose in the same way as any other dose, booking online via www.BookMyVaccine.nz visiting a walk-in or drive-thru vaccination clinic, or by calling the COVID Vaccination Healthline on 0800 28 29 26 (8am to 8pm, 7 days a week).

The Ministry of Health would like to thank everyone in New Zealand who has been vaccinated. You are doing your bit for the public health response.

Once again, the further increase in new cases today is another reminder that, as expected, the highly transmissible Omicron variant is now spreading in our communities as we have seen in other countries.

That’s why as well as getting vaccinated and boosted, it’s vitally important that people also continue to do the basics well – staying home if you’re unwell, wearing a mask, physical distancing and scanning in using the NZ COVID Tracer app when you’re out and about.

Anyone with cold or flu symptoms that could be COVID-19 is asked to get a test and isolate at home until a negative result is returned.

The most common early symptoms of the Omicron variant are a sore or scratchy throat, and a runny nose. Even if you develop a small sniffle, please get a test.

COVID-19 vaccine update 

• Vaccines administered to date (percentage of eligible people): 4,053,074 first doses (96%); 3,983,151 second doses (95%); 1,912,046 booster doses (60%). 
• Vaccines administered yesterday: 241 first doses; 506 second doses; 1,268 paediatric doses; 20,739 booster doses. 
• Māori (percentage of eligible people aged 12+): 516,172 first doses (90%); 492,563 second doses (86%). 
• Pacific Peoples (percentage of eligible people aged 12+): 279,134 first doses (97%); 272,121 second doses (95%). 
• Paediatric vaccines administered to date (percentage of 5-11-year-olds): 214,782 first doses (45%) 
• Māori (percentage of eligible people aged 5-11): 30,077 first doses (26%) 
• Pacific Peoples (percentage of eligible people aged 5-11): 17,664 first doses (36%) 

Vaccination rates for all DHBs (percentage of eligible people aged 12 +) 

• Northland DHB: First doses (90%); second doses (87%) 
• Auckland Metro DHBs: First doses (97%); second doses (96%) 
• Waikato DHB: First doses (95%); second doses (93%) 
• Bay of Plenty DHB: First doses (95%); second doses (93%) 
• Lakes DHB: First doses (93%); second doses (91%) 
• MidCentral DHB: First doses (97%); second doses (95%) 
• Tairāwhiti DHB: First doses (93%); second doses (90%) 
• Whanganui DHB: First doses (92%); second doses (90%) 
• Hawke’s Bay: First doses (97%); second doses (95%) 
• Taranaki DHB: First doses (95%); second doses (93%) 
• Wairarapa DHB: First doses (97%); second doses (95%) 
• Capital and Coast DHB: First doses (99%); second doses (98%) 
• Hutt Valley DHB: First doses (97%); second doses (95%) 
• Nelson Marlborough DHB: First doses (97%); second doses (95%) 
• West Coast DHB: First doses (93%); second doses (91%) 
• Canterbury DHB: First doses (99%); second doses (98%) 
• South Canterbury DHB: First doses (95%); second doses (94%) 
• Southern DHB: First doses (98%); second doses (96%) 

Hospitalisations 

• Cases in hospital: Total Number 39: Whangārei: 1; North Shore: 4; Middlemore: 9; Auckland: 20; Waikato: 1; Rotorua: 1, Wellington 1, Christchurch: 2. 
• Average age of current hospitalisations: 55
• Cases in ICU or HDU: 0
• Vaccination status of current hospitalisations (Northern Region only, excluding Emergency Departments): Unvaccinated or not eligible (4 cases / 12%); partially immunised <7 days from second dose or have only received one dose (1 case / 3%); fully vaccinated at least 7 days before being reported as a case (10 cases / 30%); unknown (18 cases / 55%).

Cases 

• Seven day rolling average of community cases: 468
• Seven day rolling average of border cases: 27
• Number of new community cases: 981
• Location of new community cases*: Northland (21), Auckland (768), Waikato (82), Bay of Plenty (23), Lakes (12), Hawke’s Bay (5), MidCentral (5), Taranaki (1), Tairawhiti (6), Wairarapa (12), Wellington (6), Hutt Valley (14), Nelson Marlborough (2), Canterbury (4), South Canterbury (1), Southern (19).
• Number of new cases identified at the border: 25 (eight of which are historical)
• Location of origin of border cases: India (2), Malaysia (1), Unknown (14).
• Number of active community cases (total): 4,960 (cases identified in the past 21 days and not yet classified as recovered) 
• Confirmed cases (total): 21,195

* Please note, the Ministry of Health’s daily reported cases may differ slightly from those reported at a DHB or local public health unit level. This is because of different reporting cut off times and the assignment of cases between regions, for example when a case is tested outside their usual region of residence. Total numbers will always be the formal daily case tally as reported to the WHO.

Tests 

• Number of tests total (last 24 hours): 17,616
• Tests rolling average (last 7 days): 20,732
• Number of Rapid Antigen Tests in New Zealand: 7.2 million