Monday 15 November
4 PM
Today the government announced booster shots of the Pfizer vaccine will be available in two weeks for people who got their second dose more than six months prior.
The announcement comes after concerns the protection of those who were fully vaccinated earliest may have waned, leaving front-line workers and elderly more vulnerable to Covid-19.
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern says science shows boosters top up immunity levels back up to the mid-90 percent mark.
She also announced Waikato is moving to alert level 2 on Tuesday at 11:59pm.
Ardern says there will be a change in approach to dealing with Covid-19 in the community. Instead of lockdowns, cases will be contact traced and will isolate with vaccination rates helping to keep cases lower.
On Wednesday, a date will be given for the Auckland border opening and later this week, New Zealanders will be told how to get a vaccine certificate.
1 PM
Today there are 173 new cases of Covid-19 to report. Of these 163 are in Auckland, seven are in Waikato, two are in Northland and one is in Taupō.
The person in Taupō is a household contact of a known case and is isolating at home. This takes the total number of cases in the Lakes District in this outbreak to six. Two of these cases, in Rotorua, were first announced yesterday by the Ministry and have been officially recorded today.
There are now 90 people in hospital with seven of those in ICU.
As of today, 90 percent of New Zealanders have had their first dose and 81 percent are fully vaccinated.
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