The Big Boost Week continues to see tens of thousands of people going out to get their booster dose each day. Yesterday, 46,156  booster doses were administered across the motu and brings the total so far to more than two million doses.

The Ministry of Health would like to thank everyone in New Zealand who has been vaccinated. You are doing your bit to keep all New Zealanders safe.

The COVID-19 vaccine remains our best defence against the virus. 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.

Omicron is highly transmissible, but all of us can play our part to slow the spread of the virus, help protect our most vulnerable people from being infected, and ensure our health system is able to manage extra demand for services.

Testing reminder

It is encouraging to see a high level of testing this week. However, it is important the right people get tested for the right reasons. Staff at testing centres will prioritise testing for people who are close contacts or are symptomatic.

There is good testing capacity throughout the country, but unnecessary testing could delay results for those who urgently need them.

People should only get tested if they have cold or flu symptoms, are a close contact, or if they have been asked to get tested by a health official.

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

We are anticipating continued high demand at our COVID-19 testing sites, so our request is to, please, be patient. Our frontline staff across the health sector are doing the best they can to help in a timely way.

For a full list of testing sites nationwide, visit the Healthpoint website.

Keep scanning

Scanning in with the NZ COVID Tracer App remains a valuable tool under Phase 2 of the Omicron response. Keeping a record of where you have been will enable you to quickly identify whether you’ve been at a location of interest. It will also enable you to quickly contact your contacts if you become a case. Keeping Bluetooth enabled also helps you anonymously protect people you’ve been near.

Self-isolating and reducing the spread of the virus means protecting your friends, whānau, community, and keeping the businesses and health services around you open, for a more comfortable and normal life at Red.

Neither the Ministry of Health, or any other government agencies, have access to the data on your phone. This is held by you unless you agree to share it with contact tracers or upload it through the contact tracing form.

COVID-19 vaccine update 

• Vaccines administered to date (percentage of eligible people aged 12 and over): 4,054,998 first doses (96%); 3,986,480 second doses (95%); 2,006,361 booster doses (62%). 
• Vaccines administered yesterday: 660 first doses; 1,406 second doses; 1,710 paediatric doses; 46,156 booster doses. 
• Māori (percentage of eligible people aged 12+): 516,764 first doses (90%); 493,679 second doses (86%). 
• Pacific Peoples (percentage of eligible people aged 12+): 279,416 first doses (97%); 272,583 second doses (95%). 
• Paediatric vaccines administered to date (percentage of 5-11-year-olds): 217,979 first doses (46%) 
• Māori (percentage of eligible people aged 5-11): 30,735 first doses (27%) 
• Pacific Peoples (percentage of eligible people aged 5-11): 18,082 first doses (37%) 

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 56: North Shore: 6; Middlemore: 17; Auckland: 24; Rotorua: 1; Tauranga: 3; Waikato: 3; Wellington: 1, Christchurch: 1. 
• Average age of current hospitalisations: 65
• Cases in ICU or HDU: 0
• Vaccination status of current hospitalisations (Northern Region only, excluding Emergency Departments): Unvaccinated or not eligible (2 cases / 5%); partially immunised <7 days from second dose or have only received one dose (N/A cases / 0%); fully vaccinated at least 7 days before being reported as a case (23 cases / 57.5%); unknown (15 cases / 37.5%).

Cases 

• Seven day rolling average of community cases: 683
• Seven day rolling average of border cases: 20
• Number of new community cases: 1160
• Location of new community cases*: Northland (24), Auckland (861), Waikato (73), Bay of Plenty (33), Lakes (5), Hawke’s Bay (15), MidCentral (3), Whanganui (4), Taranaki (9), Tairāwhiti (9), Wairarapa (5), Capital and Coast (32), Hutt Valley (20), Nelson Marlborough (15), Canterbury (8), South Canterbury (3), Southern (39), Unknown (2)
• Number of new cases identified at the border: 43  
• Location of origin of border cases: India (9), Japan (1), Malaysia (1), Pakistan (2), UAE (5), UK (2), USA (2), Full travel history not obtained (21).
• Number of active community cases (total): 6,721 (cases identified in the past 21 days and not yet classified as recovered) 
• Confirmed cases (total): 23,127

* 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): 28,140
• Tests rolling average (last 7 days): 23,480