An expert says New Zealand is in a "good position" to handle the Omicron outbreak because of the timing of our booster rollout.
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern recently reduced the gap between getting the second vaccine and a booster from four months to three. It comes as the highly infectious Omicron variant spreads throughout the community.
Auckland University vaccinologist Helen Petousis-Harris says the outbreak has come at a good time because most people have just received their boosters or are about to.
This is good because the body gets a "burst of antibodies" after receiving a booster, Petousis-Harris explained.
"Immunity matures over time and while the antibodies in our blood start to wane a few months after vaccination, our long-term memory slowly develops, including in its ability to respond to variants of the virus. This all means that over time we lose our protection against infection but generally maintain protection against serious illness.
"After our initial immune response to the first two doses has developed - a process taking several months - administration of a booster results in a burst of antibodies that is higher and also more diverse than the earlier antibodies. This burst of antibodies is pretty good at preventing infection and mild symptoms.
"This also means that a boosted person is less likely to transmit the virus to others compared to an un-boosted person."
She said this increase in immunity will help Aoteroa manage the outbreak and will limit the number of people who die or become very ill.
"I think New Zealanders are in a good position having been very recently boosted. We will have most of our population facing Omicron with the best immunity we can provide. It won't be perfect but it will make a very big difference to the number of folk getting sick."
She said in the future boosters are likely to be used only for at-risk populations such as the elderly.
New Zealand has high vaccination rates with 94 percent of people over 12 fully vaccinated and 96 percent partially. More than 1.6 million people have also received their boosters with 18,655 people getting it yesterday.
At her post-Cabinet press conference on Tuesday, Ardern warned Omicron won't be the last variant the country faces.
"While the timing, severity or transmissibility is beyond our control, the Government will continue to strengthen our health system and critical public services so we are in the strongest position to deal with whatever the pandemic produces," Ardern said.
