A daily wrap of all the main developments in the Covid-19 Delta outbreak as New Zealand is plunged into lockdown for the fifth time. Video / NZ Herald
Hundreds of thousands of New Zealanders have been vaccinated - including Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern - but director general of health Dr Ashley Bloomfield is yet to be one of them.
Ardern told The Country's Jamie Mackay on Wednesday that Bloomfield hadn't been vaccinated because he was waiting for his age group to come up.
"That's his primary rationale. We'll be making a big song and dance about that when he does."
Bloomfield, in his mid 50s, is now eligible and has booked his vaccination, the Ministry of Health confirmed.
Ardern, 41, received her first jab on June 18 and her second in July at Hamilton's Te Awa Vaccination Centre, a partnership between iwi Waikato Tainui and the Waikato DHB, which is able to vaccinate 1000 people a day.
Jacinda Ardern received her second Covid jab in Hamilton in July. Photo / Michael Craig
Mackay said to Ardern he would have thought it would be in the nation's best interest for Bloomfield to be inoculated.
"It's in the nation's best interest for everyone to be," she said.
"A number of people in different leadership roles have been role-modelling. We want that to continue. We want to use every opportunity to demonstrate why it's really important for everybody."
Vaccinations were paused yesterday for 48 hours as the country went into level 4 lockdown after the emergence of new community Covid-19 case in Auckland, a 58-year-old Devonport man.
Ardern said yesterday officials wanted to ensure vaccines could still take place in a safe environment and the pause would give officials time to further consider potential changes to the programme - including drive-through vaccinations.
Vaccinations will resume at 8am on Thursday.
The Ministry of Health announced it reached a daily vaccination record on Tuesday with 55,688 doses administered, including 35,499 first doses and 20,189 second doses.
More than 2.61 million doses of the Covid-19 vaccine have been administered to date.
