Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has urged Kiwis to get the COVID-19 vaccine and encourage other New Zealanders to also take it up as she says it is "our path to opening back up confidently".
So far, 4,100,658 doses of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine have been administered in New Zealand, of which, 2,711,485 were first doses and 1,389,172 were second.
It's now available to all Kiwis aged 12 and up and Jacinda Ardern is urging people to take up the opportunity.
"What I find really heartening, given that we only opened it up to everyone on the 1st of September, is that 64 percent of people aged 12 plus have had at least one dose.
"We do however, want to keep going which is why officials and agencies have been working so hard to secure doses that allow us to do that. The rest is up to us.
"As I stand here today, Auckland is into its fourth long week of a level four lockdown and the rest of the country is having to adapt to a new Delta level 2 with tighter but necessary rules and limitations. These alert levels are gruelling and hard work and I know we all want to avoid them in the future.
"That's why we need everyone who can be, to be vaccinated. High vaccine uptake is part of our path to opening back up confidently."
She said she is often asked how many Kiwis the Government is aiming to vaccinate, she said "everyone".
"I hate the idea of even one preventable death and with the vaccine we know that the chances of someone's life being COVID being significantly reduced."
She urged businesses to encourage their workers to get vaccinated and for faith leaders to encourage their congregations to get the jab.
"We now have enough vaccines to give them to everyone who is eligible, at pace."
Millions of doses of a vaccine developed by Novavax are expected to arrive in New Zealand during the first quarter of 2022. Whether it will be used as an alternative to the Pfizer-BioNTech jab, as a booster or both isn't yet known.
A quarter of a million extra Pfizer doses are also en route to New Zealand from Spain, Ardern announced on Thursday. They are due to arrive on Friday morning.
It will allow the Government to maintain high levels of vaccination this month, before the bulk of doses arrive in October.
"We expect to receive a total of 1.8 million doses from Pfizer throughout the month of September, in addition to the doses purchased from Spain. This means we don't have any plans to slow down the rollout," Ardern.
