The Ministry of Health says only 755 more Māori from the Auckland District Health Board area need to receive their first Pfizer vaccination to reach 90% of Māori getting their first vaccination.
To date, 75% are fully vaccinated within the area.
The Auckland DHB is fast closing in on being the first in the country to be 90% fully vaccinated – as of 11:45am today, there were just 101 more people who needed to receive their second shot to reach this significant milestone. The DHB is expected to reach this marker this afternoon.
Only 1035 more Pasifika from Auckland DHB need to receive their first dose to reach 90 percent of Pasifika, and 78 per cent are already fully vaccinated.
New Zealand is now at 91% for first doses (3,825,945) and 82% (3,471,003) of New Zealanders are fully vaccinated.
So far, 78% of eligible Māori have now received their first dose and 63% are fully vaccinated.
There were 198 new Covid cases today, taking the outbreak total to 6,532.
Of the new cases, 152 are in Auckland, 30 in Waikato, five in Northland, six in Bay of Plenty, two in Lakes, one in MidCentral, one in the Wairarapa and one in Canterbury.
Some 110 of the new cases are epidemiologically linked and 88 remain unlinked with investigations underway.
A total of 76 people are now in hospital, including two still being assessed. Six are in ICU.
New case info
In the Bay of Plenty's six new cases, one is in Tauranga and four in Mount Maunganui. All but one of the above cases are household contacts of known cases. Links between the remaining Mount Maunganui case and known cases are still being investigated, and all cases are self-isolating.
As a precaution, a Bay of Plenty school linked to one of the cases has been closed today and all students and staff are being offered tests.
There is one new case in Christchurch today. The case recently travelled to the North Island, and a probable link to another case is being investigated.
In Northland, one case is a close contact in Kaitaia, another is a close contact in Whangārei clearly linked to an Auckland case and one is in Waipu being interviewed by public health officials.
Last night a weak positive Covid-19 result was picked up as part of routine surveillance testing in Wellington. This was for an essential worker from Auckland working in the city. The ministry says the result could indicate a historical case or a case in the earlier stages of infection. The worker is having a repeat test today and follow-up with the workplace includes tests of co-workers.