The government will today reveal more details about the nationwide rollout of the vaccine, including roughly when people can expect to be vaccinated.
The consent form for the Covid 19 vaccination at a facility in South Auckland Photo: RNZ / Simon Rogers
Border workers and their families have been the first to get the jab, with more than 50,000 frontline health workers next in line.
The plan released today will set out broadly what happens after that and will include indications on when certain groups can expect to be vaccinated.
Vulnerable groups like people who are immunocompromised and the elderly will likely be a priority.
The rollout is understood to be based on need, rather than on location.
South Auckland, however, might be an exception, with officials already indicating vaccinating people there will be a priority.
Director-General of Health Dr Ashley Bloomfield last Thursday said it was being considered.
"If we think about our border workforce ... majority of them are based in South Auckland, and also the fact that the last two outbreaks we've had in the community have been in South Auckland.
"We're putting a layer of protection by vaccinating that border workforce and their whānau, and then I think it makes sense that very early on when we start to roll out further the next layer of protection out would be to not just protect that community but we would be protecting the wider country by starting to protect that community," Dr Bloomfield said last week.
Covid-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins and Bloomfield will outline the plan at 1pm today.
The announcement follows the government's announcement on Monday it had agreed to purchase enough doses of the Pfizer vaccine to inoculate the entire country.
The additional 8.5 million doses bring the total amount ordered by New Zealand to 10m.
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said the bulk order would make achieving herd immunity in New Zealand by the end of the year simpler.
Advisory group chair expects immediate action
Any problems or gaps in the government's Covid-19 response will be passed on so that changes can be made quickly, said the chair of a new advisory group.
The group, chaired by Sir Brian Roche, will provide advice to the Covid-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins on the border, MIQ and the public health response.
Sir Brian told Morning Report he expected members would meet with the minister by next week.
"It's a good initiative to look at the whole system" - Advisory group chair Sir Brian Roche
It will start its work by reviewing the latest Covid-19 outbreak in South Auckland to see what the lessons learned were and decide if any changes are needed.
"I think it is about having something that is reliable, effective and that can maintain the confidence and trust of the public."
He expected that if any issues arose the government would be alerted immediately so that improvements could be made.
"That is the approach that the government has signalled that they want to have.
"There have been a number of reviews of contact tracing, for instance, but I think it's a good initiative to look at the whole system, because it's the system that must work, not individual component parts."
Other group members include Rob Fyfe, Dr Debbie Ryan, Professor Phillip Hill, and Dr Dale Bramley.
Sir Brian Roche heads a new advisory group loking at all parts of the management of the Covid-19 pandemic. Photo: RNZ / Dom Thomas
Vaccine chief visits first large vaccination centre
Te Puke GP Joe Bourne who is leading the rollout for the Ministry of Health visited the country's first large vaccination centre yesterday.
It opened in a large, open, office-style building in South Auckland fitted out with cardboard vaccination booths and health check stations.
He said sometimes planning for the rollout within the Ministry of Health office felt detached so it was "a pleasure" to be on the ground in South Auckland and see how vaccinations were working in practice.
"This is where there's the greatest risk and so the focus has really been starting as promptly as we can here.
"But we know we are planning with other district health boards across the country to open similar operations."
While the DHBs had made border workers the first priority, as they moved to vaccinate 55,000 household contacts of the border workers it would be important to have more sites outside of workplaces, Dr Bourne said.
Two more similar sites are due to open in Auckland this month.
There were 136 people vaccinated in the South Auckland centre yesterday.