PM Jacinda Ardern said more than 300,000 New Zealanders aged 50 – 55 years will now be able to book their vaccines from Friday, August 13.

PM Jacinda Ardern spoke to the media after the Pacific Islands Forum leaders' meeting held on Friday.

August 4 2021 New Zealand has passed the 2 million Covid vaccine jabs milestone. Of these, 1,251,000 are first doses and almost 770,000 people have had two doses and are fully vaccinated.

Seasonal workers from Samoa, Tonga and Vanuatu will be able to enter New Zealand from next month. This would be one way, entering New Zealand only, and they would not need to go through managed isolation.

Watch: PM Jacinda Ardern delivers a formal apology to address the injustices of Pacific peoples during the 1970s dawn raids.

The Commerce Commission's study into supermarkets has concluded that competition in the retail grocery sector "is not working well for consumers". Video / Mark Mitchell

The Government has shut the transtasman travel bubble for at least the next eight weeks. PM Jacinda Ardern said she would not risk the hard work put in by the team of 5 million by keeping the bubble open when the risk was high from the Delta variant.

People in group 4 will receive notification from July 28 about being able to make a vaccine booking. From the end of July the vaccination programme would really start ramping up, Covid-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins said.

A man at the centre of a major police incident pulled a woman from her car at gunpoint and led police on a dramatic chase through inner Auckland. In Hamilton, a man is dead after exchanging gunfire with police. Video / NZ Herald

The single-dose Janssen Covid vaccine has been approved for those aged 18 and older in New Zealand.

PM Jacinda Ardern says the transtasman bubble pause will be lifted for Western Australia and the Northern Territory from 11.59pm on July 9, but will remain in place for Queensland and New South Wales.

As of midnight last night, 149,608 doses of vaccine had been administered across New Zealand, while more than 444,000 New Zealanders had received their second dose.

Wellington will return to alert level 1 from 11.59pm tonight, eight days after a Covid-infected Sydney tourist flew out of the capital. Video / Mark Mitchell

The Government is considering mandatory QR scanning in "high-risk" locations such as bars and restaurants, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern says.

Alert level 2 rules will be extended for 48 hours in Wellington, Covid Response Minister Chris Hipkins said.

Former Minneapolis police Officer Derek Chauvin has been sentenced to 22 years and six months for the murder of George Floyd.

There are no new cases of Covid-19 in the community today.

Focus Live: PM Jacinda Ardern on the travel bubble with Australia

PM Jacinda Ardern has welcomed Medsafe's "very carefully considered" provisional approval of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine for children aged 12 to 15.

PM Jacinda Ardern reveals how Kiwis will be able to book their Covid vaccinations through a national system ahead of the general public rollout. Video / NZ Herald

Dr Ashley Bloomfield says 891,702 vaccine doses had been administered and yesterday more than 21,000 doses had been administered

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern says she was "misled" over the latest book about her, saying it was pitched as a book about women and leadership based on interviewing up to 10 political leaders.

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern says the Government has agreed to make an official apology for the dawn raids targeting Pasifika people in the 1970s.

There have been more than 750,000 doses of the Covid-19 vaccine administered so far, an increase of 107,000 in the last week.

Pfizer has confirmed that about 1 million doses of its vaccine will be delivered to New Zealand during July.

New Zealand Police say they have dealt a "huge blow" to organised crime after a major trans-national sting resulted in 35 arrests and $3.7 million in assets seized.

Serious crash near Ashburton River.

New Zealand's quarantine-free travel pause with Victoria will be extended another six days, the Government has announced. New Zealand citizens will be able to fly home from 11.59pm on June 8, Covid-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins said.

The data-matching system where the Government checks whether MIQ workers are properly tested failed to detect the case of the Grand Millenium security guard, who should have been tested fortnightly but wasn't tested for five months

More than 235,000 people had received their second dose - meaning they are now fully vaccinated.