More than 15,000 vaccine doses administered yesterday; 88 in hospital …
There were 15,224 first and second vaccine doses administered yesterday, made up of 4,777 first doses and 10,447 second doses. To date, 91% of eligible people in New Zealand have had their first dose and 84% are fully vaccinated.
As of 10.30am today, more than 1,470,000 million requests for a My Vaccine Pass had been processed.
COVID-19 vaccine update
Total first and second vaccines administered to date (percentage of eligible people): 7,366,916: 3,846,920 first doses (91%); 3,519,996 second doses (84%)
Total first and second vaccines administered yesterday: 15,224: 4,777 first doses; 10,447 second doses
Māori (percentage of eligible people): 823,499: 454,188 first doses (*80%); 369,311 second doses (65%)
Pacific Peoples (percentage of eligible people): 483,932: 256,951 first doses (*90%); 226,981 second doses (79%)
Total first and second vaccines administered to Auckland residents yesterday: 3,706: 966 first doses; 2,740 second doses
Vaccination rates by DHB (with active cases)
Northland DHB (percentage of eligible people): First doses (84%); second doses (74%)
Auckland metro DHBs (percentage of eligible people): First doses (93%); second doses (88%)
Waikato DHB (percentage of eligible people): First doses (90%); second doses (81%)
Canterbury DHB (percentage of eligible people): First doses (94%); second doses (85%)
Lakes DHB (percentage of eligible people): First doses (86%); second doses (76%)
MidCentral DHB (percentage of eligible people): First doses (91%); second doses (82%)
Bay of Plenty DHB (percentage of eligible people): First doses (88%); second doses (78%)
Wairarapa DHB (percentage of eligible people): First doses (91%); second doses (81%)
Hawkes Bay DHB (percentage of eligible people): First doses (89%); second doses (80%)
Capital and Coast DHB (percentage of eligible people): First doses (95%); second doses (88%)
Hospitalisations
Cases in hospital: 88 (including 2 still being assessed): North Shore (19); Middlemore (29); Auckland (37); Waikato (2); Rotorua (1)
Vaccination status of current hospitalisations (Northern Region wards only as of 17 November): Unvaccinated or not eligible (46 cases / 56%); partially vaccinated<14 days (10 cases / 12%) partially vaccinated >14 days (7 cases / 8 %); fully vaccinated <14 days (1 cases / 1%) fully vaccinated >14 days (16 cases / 19%); unknown (3 cases / 4%)
Average age of current hospitalisations: 45
Cases in ICU or HDU: Six
Cases
Seven day rolling average of community cases: 185
Number of new community cases: 215
Number of new cases identified at the border: Three (and one historical)
Location of new community cases: Auckland (196), Waikato (11), Northland (4), Bay of Plenty (1) Lakes (2), **MidCentral (1 - announced yesterday)
Location of community cases (total): Auckland 6,756 (2,281 of whom have recovered); ***Waikato 361 (106 of whom have recovered); Wellington 18 (17 of whom have recovered); Northland 70 (39 of whom have recovered); Nelson/Marlborough 1 (recovered); Canterbury 7 (3 of whom have recovered); Taranaki 6 (all of whom have recovered); Lakes 24; MidCentral 4; Bay of Plenty 18; Wairarapa 3
Number of community cases (total): 7,268 (in current community outbreak): Confirmed cases (total): 10,025
Historical cases: 198 out of 8,218 cases since 1 January
Cases infectious in the community****: 65 of 178 cases reported yesterday have exposure events
Cases in isolation throughout the period they were infectious**** : 100 of 178 cases reported yesterday have no exposure events
Cases epidemiologically linked: 116 of today’s 215 new cases
Cases to be epidemiologically linked: 99 of today’s 215 new cases
Cases epidemiologically linked (total): 5525 (893 unlinked in the last 14 days)
Contacts
Number of active contacts being managed (total): 6,450
Percentage who have received an outbound call from contact tracers (to confirm testing and isolation requirements): 69%
Percentage who have returned at least one result: 70%
Locations of interest
Locations of interest (total): 153 (as at 10am 23 November)
Tests
Number of tests (total): 4,711,422
Number of tests total (last 24 hours): 24,198
Tests processed in Auckland (last 24 hours): 12,702
Tests rolling average (last 7 days): 29,470
Testing centres in Auckland: 18
Wastewater
Wastewater detections
No unexpected results
NZ COVID Tracer
Registered users (total): 3,394,740
Poster scans (total): 526,656,912
Manual diary entries (total): 20,597,438
Poster scans in 24 hours to midday yesterday: 2,428,169
* Based on rounded up percentages.
** A community case reported yesterday in MidCentral is officially included in today’s numbers.
*** A Waikato community case reported on 19 November has been reclassified as not a case. Also, a previously reported MIQ case has been reclassified as not a case.
**** The number of cases here may sometimes differ from the total reported the previous day due to a difference in reporting timeframes and reclassifications.
Death of a patient with COVID-19
Sadly, today we are reporting the COVID-19-related death of a patient at Auckland City Hospital.
The patient, who was in their 50s, was admitted to Auckland City Hospital on 17 November.
Our thoughts are with the patient’s whānau and friends at this deeply sad time.
Clarification on COVID-19 testing, immigration status
The Ministry is aware of reports of individuals concerned about getting tested for COVID-19 due to their immigration status.
We would like to remind anyone in New Zealand that if you return a positive test, the Ministry and your local public health team will work with you to identify and contact people you have been in close contact with. If necessary, information about a positive test result may also be shared with emergency services in your area to help them in their response, but it will not be used for immigration-related or enforcement purposes, as outlined on the Ministry’s website.
We continue to urge anyone in New Zealand with COVID-19-related symptoms – no matter how mild – to get tested, even if they are vaccinated.
We also encourage people to take advantage of the weekend to get vaccinated, with many sites available nationwide.
COVID-19 testing and vaccination site locations are available on the Healthpoint website.
Third primary vaccine dose for immunocompromised patients
Updated advice from the COVID-19 Vaccine Technical Advisory Group (CVTAG) on the third primary dose for immunocompromised patients has been published on the Ministry of Health website.
https://www.health.govt.nz/our-work/diseases-and-conditions/covid-19-novel-coronavirus/covid-19-vaccines/covid-19-vaccine-health-advice/covid-19-vaccine-severely-immunocompromised-people
In October, a third primary dose of the Pfizer vaccine was recommended for individuals who are severely immunocompromised, because they are at higher risk of severe outcomes from COVID-19 and might not produce a sufficiently strong immune response after two doses of the vaccine.
Updated CV TAG recommendations include information about the individuals who should be offered a third primary dose, with dialysis patients now eligible along with the groups already identified. Guidance on how to accommodate biologics and immunosuppressive therapies has also been added and dosage thresholds removed to support clinical discretion.
Advice for clinicians on the guidance is available through the Immunisation Advisory Centre, and this information will be updated periodically through the Immunisation Handbook.
A third primary dose for severely immunocompromised people different from a booster. A third primary dose of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine for severely immunocompromised people is off-label usage and includes prescription and consent obligations on the prescriber, the vaccinator, and the patient.
Today’s cases
Today we are announcing new community cases in Northland, Auckland, Waikato, Bay of Plenty and Lakes. There are no additional cases to report today in Wellington, Wairarapa, Canterbury or MidCentral. All Taranaki cases have now recovered.
Information on the new cases is included in the regional updates below. Anyone living in these areas with symptoms, no matter how mild, is urged to get tested – even if they are vaccinated – and remain isolated until they return a negative result. A full list of testing centres can be found on the Healthpoint website.
Regional updates
Northland
There are four new cases being reported in Northland today. One case in Whangārei was already isolating and there are three new cases in Kaikohe – all four cases have known links.
All active cases are being cared for in the community. A case that was in Whangārei Hospital has been discharged.
There were 1,153 swabs taken across Northland yesterday and testing centres open today can be found on the Northland DHB website.
Vaccination clinics open in Northland today can be found on the Northland DHB website.
Auckland
Today, there are 196 new cases to report in Auckland.
There are 18 community centres available for testing across Auckland today. The testing centres at Northcote, Balmoral, Ōtara and Wiri continue to operate extended hours to increase access to testing.
Public health staff are now supporting 4,371 people to isolate at home around Auckland - this includes 1,441 cases.
Waikato
There were 11 new cases confirmed in the Waikato overnight, with six from Huntly, three from Kawhia, one from Te Kūiti, and one from Ōtorohanga.
Five of the new cases have been linked and the remaining six are under investigation.
Locations of interest were identified yesterday in Tokoroa, Huntly, and Putāruru.
There are seven pop-up and dedicated testing sites operating across Waikato today in Hamilton, Tokoroa, Putāruru, Ōtorohanga, Thames, and Te Kūiti
Across the Waikato there were 1,944 tests processed yesterday.
In the Waikato region, public health staff are now supporting 143 cases to isolate at home.
Bay of Plenty
There is one new case to report in the Bay of Plenty today.
People in the Bay of Plenty are urged to get a test if they are symptomatic or have been advised to by a health professional.
There is good testing capacity across the region with dedicated community testing centres in Tauranga, Mount Maunganui, Whakatāne and Murupara.
Tauranga Retirement Village
An update on a reported visit by a COVID-19 case to a residence in a Retirement Village in Tauranga is that one close contact has been identified and their initial test result is negative.
This situation continues to be closely managed by the Public Health Unit.
Lakes
There are two new cases in the Lakes district.
One case is currently receiving care in Rotorua Hospital.
There is good testing capacity across the region with dedicated community testing centres in Taupō, and Rotorua. See healthpoint.co.nz for locations and opening times. Testing is also available at a number of medical centres and Hauora Māori.
