Covid 19 Delta outbreak: How are vaccinations in the North Island tracking?

Puniu River Care nursery manager Ngaire Steedman receives her second jab at a pop-up vaccination centre at Mangatoatoa Pa from Raukura Hauora O Tainui nurse Howard Brown. Photo / Dean Taylor

Greater freedoms for Kiwis are just on the other side of 90 per cent vaccination rates.

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced this morning that New Zealand will move to a new "traffic light" system to manage Covid-19 when District Health Boards have 90 per cent of its eligible population vaccinated.

There are three stages – red, orange and green. Auckland will see a move to the red stage as soon as the city hits 90 per cent, while the rest of the country will move to the orange stage once 90 per cent vaccination rates are reached.

The South Island could see a move earlier than the rest of the country.

So how are vaccinations tracking across the North Island DHBs (bar Auckland)?

Wellingtons two DHBs are leading the way, with the Capital and Coast DHB at 91 per cent for first vaccine and 74 per cent for second vaccine. Hutt Valley DHB is not far behind with 86 per cent for first dose and 68 per cent for second dose.

At the bottom of the pack is Tairawhiti DHB (Gisborne) with 75 per cent first dose and 60 per cent second dose.

Percentages for first doses across the Mid Central, Waikato, Wairarapa, Hawke's Bay, Taranaki and the Bay of Plenty DHBs are all sitting in the early 80s and between 61 and 67 per cent for second doses.

Whanganui, Lakes and Northland DHBs' percentages are sitting within the high 70s for first doses and within the low 60s for second doses.

Across the country, 68.8 per cent of the eligible population is fully vaccinated, 16.9 per cent have received their first dose and 14.1 per cent are unvaccinated.

What does the new system look like?

The Government is calling the new system a Covid-19 protection framework.

Its three stages will allow relatively high rates of freedom compared to the current alert level system. However, they will also require the use of vaccine certificates for nearly everything apart from essential retail and services, like supermarkets and GPs.