Waikato DHB is only 505 doses away from having 90 percent of its population fully vaccinated against COVID-19. Waikato will become the nineth DHB to achieve this milestone. 

Holiday reminder 

Season's Greetings from the Ministry of Health. We’re asking everyone to play their part to reduce the spread of the virus over the break. 

The Ministry urges anyone with any symptoms that could be COVID-19, even if they’re away on holiday, to get a test and remain where they are until they receive a negative result and are feeling better. This applies as well to vaccinated people with even mild symptoms. For those away on holiday who test positive you will be contacted regarding your ongoing care. 

Testing locations nationwide can be found on the Healthpoint website. 

People who are out and about are asked to wear a mask and maintain physical distance in crowded or poorly ventilated indoor spaces and scan in using the COVID-19 Tracer app. 

The vaccine remains our key defence against all variants of COVID-19, including Omicron. We continue to ask everyone who is eligible to get vaccinated, including people who are now eligible for a booster dose. 

COVID-19 vaccine update 

• Vaccines administered to date (percentage of eligible people): 3,972,323 first doses (94%); 3,839,131 second doses (91%); 28,043 third primary doses; 279,853 booster doses. 
• Vaccines administered yesterday: 279 first doses; 1,917 second doses; 43 third primary doses and 2,888 booster doses. 
• Māori (percentage of eligible people): 499,157 first doses (87%); 455,867 second doses (80%) 
• Pacific Peoples (percentage of eligible people): 269,266 first doses (94%); 256,300 second doses (89%) 

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

• Northland DHB: First doses (88%); second doses (84%) 
• Auckland Metro DHBs: First doses (96%); second doses (93%) 
• Waikato DHB: First doses (93%); second doses (90%) 
• Bay of Plenty DHB: First doses (93%); second doses (89%) 
• Lakes DHB: First doses (92%); second doses (87%) 
• Tairāwhiti DHB: First doses (91%); second doses (85%) 
• Hutt Valley DHB: First doses (95%); second doses (92%) 
• Canterbury DHB: First doses (98%); second doses (95%) 

Hospitalisations  

• Cases in hospital: 48; Auckland: 15; North Shore: 6; Middlemore: 21; Tauranga: 3; Rotorua: 2; Waikato: 1. 
• Vaccination status of current hospitalisations (Northern Region wards only): Unvaccinated or not eligible (18 cases / 45%); partially immunised <7 days from second dose or have only received one dose (8 cases / 20%); fully vaccinated at least 7 days before being reported as a case (14 cases/ 35%); unknown (0 cases / 0%). 
• Average age of current hospitalisations: 52. 
• Cases in ICU or HDU: 7 (2 in Auckland; 3 in Middlemore; 2 in Tauranga. 

Cases 

• Seven day rolling average of community cases: 47 
• Number of new community cases: 46 
• Number of new cases identified at the border: 8 
• Number of Omicron cases identified at the border (total): 71 
• Location of new community cases: Northland (3), Auckland (30), Waikato (6),  Lakes (4), Tairāwhiti* (2) and Canterbury (1). 
• Number of community cases (current community outbreak total): 10,716 
• Number of active cases (total cases identified in the past 21 days and not yet classed as recovered): 1,272 
• Confirmed cases (total): 13,616 

Contacts 

• Number of active contacts being managed (total): 6,121 
• Percentage who have received an outbound call from contact tracers (to confirm testing and isolation requirements): 84% 
• Percentage who have returned at least one result: 76% 

Tests 

• Number of tests total (last 24 hours): 8,773 
• Tests rolling average (last 7 days): 12,969 
• Auckland tests total (last 24 hours): 3,886 

Testing numbers remain lower than usual in the holiday period. 

Wastewater 

No unexpected wastewater detections to report. 

NZ COVID Tracer 

• Poster scans in 24 hours to midday yesterday: 1,442,634 
• Manual diary entries in 24 hours to midday: 32,920 

My Vaccine Pass 

• My vaccine passes issued total: 4,563,219 
• My vaccine passes issued yesterday: 9,925