COVID-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins says he expects children aged five to 11 to start being vaccinated against the virus before the end of January.
The United States Food and Drug Administration in October gave Pfizer the green light for five to 11-year-olds to receive the COVID-19 vaccine but in New Zealand approval from medicine regulator Medsafe is still pending.
Hipkins said on Wednesday the Government is prepared to roll out Pfizer's paediatric version of the COVID-19 vaccine to Kiwi children as soon as Medsafe gives its approval.
"There is still a Medsafe process to go through. But we are now well advanced in our planning for the rollout of vaccines to five to 11-year-olds," he told reporters.
"This under-12 age group has a lower risk of direct health impacts of COVID-19 than older age groups but COVID-19 can still have serious health consequences for them, particularly for children who are immuno-compromised or have significant respiratory conditions."
The paediatric vaccine is an adapted version that's designed to ensure it's effective for tamariki. It's about one-third of the adult dose and it has been thoroughly tested and trialled, Hipkins said.
"Buying and using this paediatric version of the Pfizer vaccine is conditional on the vaccine being approved by Medsafe and they're making excellent progress with the work that they're doing to ensure that the expert advisory group will be receiving the advice by mid-December.
"Once Medsafe makes its decision, the Ministry of Health's technical advisory group then provides recommendations on the use of the vaccine and the rollout of the vaccine. Planning is well underway for that to start.
"We're expecting to start rolling out the vaccine before the end of January."
Hipkins said the Government has been able to secure deliveries of the paediatric dose from Pfizer in order to start rolling it out, pending Medsafe approval.
"Our health officials will continue to work with iwi, DHBs and local providers in communities - including the Ministry of Education, schools and early childhood centres - to identify any locations that we may want to bring on stream for the administration of paediatric doses, which of course will also be available through the existing vaccine network.
"We'll be taking a whānau-based approach there. We also recognise this is an opportunity to reach members of whānau who may not have come forward as adults to receive their vaccinations.
"It's also possible that other child immunisations may be brought up to date at the same time."
The latest Ministry of Health data shows the 0-9 age group has made up 20 percent - 1680 out of 8574 - of all COVID-19 cases in New Zealand and 8 percent - 34 out of 448 - of related hospitalisations.
"We are seeing more cases among children, because at the moment, children can't be vaccinated, and so that is something we do keep in mind," Hipkins said.
"It's one of the reasons we're moving to the Protection Framework and not just removing all restrictions because it helps to provide those extra layers of protection."
Hipkins said it's important to prepare for winter.
"I'm very aware that around the world one of the big risk points is heading back into winter, and so if you ask me where I want New Zealand to be when it heads back into winter - which is when risk increases again and the northern hemisphere experience has certainly highlighted that - we want to make sure we've got as higher rates of vaccination as we can.
"We will have been able to roll out our booster dose campaign by then. I would like to think we'd have our paediatric vaccination rolled out and the young people will be vaccinated. That will put us in a very, very strong position heading into the New Zealand winter."
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has promised not to make COVID vaccination mandatory for children, telling a protester last month: "On kids, there will always be choice, always, you have my absolute commitment on that."
Hipkins said 13,224 people have now received a third shot of Pfizer for medical reasons while 51,527 have so far had a booster shot, which is available six months after the second dose. Uptake of AstraZeneca has been low in the hundreds of people, about 650 doses.
"We're on track to exceed a 90 percent overall nationwide vaccination rate within the next two to three weeks if demand continues at the current levels."
