This morning MidCentral DHB became the ninth of our 20 DHBs to achieve the 90% milestone for its eligible population to be fully vaccinated.

Meanwhile, Nelson-Marlborough DHB is next in line to hit the 90% mark for full vaccination of its eligible population, with just 550 doses to go as of midnight last night. Other regions close to the meeting the target include South Canterbury (280 doses); Hawkes Bay (1,990 doses); and Waikato (4,126 doses).

For Māori vaccinations, Wairarapa DHB has just 12 doses remaining to reach 90% partially vaccinated for its population; Southern DHB has 74 doses, and Waitemata 263 doses.

For our Pacific communities, Whanganui DHB has just 56 doses to go to be 90% partially vaccinated, joining all the other 19 DHBs to have reached this mark. MidCentral DHB has just 19 doses to go to reach 90% of its Pacific population being fully vaccinated, with Canterbury only 46 doses away, and Waikato with just 120 doses to go. Nine other DHBs have already hit this milestone.

These significant achievements reflect ongoing hard work by vaccinators across the motu and cap off a huge year for the programme.

Omicron update

Whole genome sequencing has now detected nine further cases of Omicron in international arrivals, taking New Zealand’s total to 22 cases with the variant. 

Of the total Omicron cases to date, all remain in managed isolation with the exception of one case who has now recovered and been released as they are no longer infectious.

Health and MIQ teams have been carefully planning for Omicron cases at the border and will continue to manage all arrivals cautiously. This includes isolation and testing requirements for all new arrivals, robust infection and prevention control and PPE measures at airports and MIQ facilities, and frequent surveillance testing of staff who have any contact with recent international returnees.

Supporting our frontline health staff

Vaccinations and rapid antigen testing remain available at many pharmacies around the country.

We want to reiterate our thanks to pharmacy staff for their part in New Zealand’s defence against COVID-19.

It’s really important to remember frontline staff right across the health sector are doing the best they can to help in a timely way – please be patient and kind to all staff.

Remember, if you have COVID-19 symptoms then you should call Healthline for advice about getting a PCR test.

COVID-19 vaccine update

• Vaccines administered to date (percentage of eligible people): 3,964,319 first doses (94%); 3,801,569 second doses (90%); 24,652 third primary doses; 215,914 booster doses
• Vaccines administered yesterday: 784 first doses; 3,360 second doses; 94 third primary doses and 2,988 booster doses.
• Māori (percentage of eligible people): 496,493 first doses (87%); 444,227 second doses (78%)
• Pacific Peoples (percentage of eligible people): 269,674 first doses (94%); 253,681 second doses (88%)

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

• Northland DHB: First doses (88%); second doses (83%)
• Auckland Metro DHBs: First doses (96%); second doses (93%)
• Waikato DHB: First doses (93%); second doses (89%)
• Bay of Plenty DHB: First doses (93%); second doses (87%)
• Lakes DHB: First doses (91%); second doses (86%)
• Taranaki DHB: First doses (93%); second doses (88%)
• Nelson-Marlborough DHB: First doses (94%); second doses (90%)
• Canterbury DHB: First doses (98%); second doses (94%)

Hospitalisations

• Cases in hospital: 62; North Shore: 11; Auckland: 31; Middlemore: 15; Waikato: 2; Tauranga: 3
• Vaccination status of current hospitalisations (Northern Region wards only): Unvaccinated or not eligible (31 cases / 56%); partially immunised <7 days from second dose or have only received one dose (6 cases / 11%); fully vaccinated at least 7 days before being reported as a case (15 cases / 27%); unknown (5 cases / 7%)
• Average age of current hospitalisations: 52
• Cases in ICU or HDU: 7 (1 in North Shore; 2 in Auckland; 3 in Middlemore, 1 in Waikato)

Cases

• Seven day rolling average of community cases: 68
• Number of new community cases: 69
• Number of new cases identified at the border: 2
• Location of new community cases: Auckland (59), Waikato (7), Bay of Plenty (2), Taranaki (1).
• Number of community cases (total): 10,289  (in current community outbreak)
• Cases epidemiologically linked (total): 7,594
• Number of active cases (total): 1,762 (cases identified in the past 21 days and not yet classed as recovered)
• Confirmed cases (total): 13,125

Contacts

• Number of active contacts being managed (total): 6,693
• Percentage who have received an outbound call from contact tracers (to confirm testing and isolation requirements): 86%
• Percentage who have returned at least one result: 78%

Tests

• Number of tests total (last 24 hours): 11,587
• Tests rolling average (last 7 days): 21,812
• Auckland tests total (last 24 hours): 4,810

Wastewater

• No unexpected detections

NZ COVID Tracer

• Poster scans in 24 hours to midday yesterday: 2,996,969
• Manual diary entries in 24 hours to midday: 34,701

My Vaccine Pass

• My vaccine pass downloads total: 4,392,027
• My vaccine pass downloads (last 24 hours): 15,544