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There are a record 454 new cases of Covid in the community with 27 people now in hospital as Omicron continues to surge.Â
The record number also reveals the spread of the virus through the country. There are cases in Northland (12), Auckland (294), Waikato (72), Bay of Plenty (23), Lakes (8), Hawke's Bay (7), MidCentral (5), Taranaki (1), Wellington (5), Hutt Valley (12), Wairarapa (2), Southern (13).Â
Today's update comes as the Big Boost weekend public health initiative aims to encourage Kiwis to get their third jab.Â
"The Big Boost Week continues to see tens of thousands of people going out to get their booster dose each day. Yesterday, there were 57,364 boosters administered," the Ministry of Health said in today's statement.Â
"It'd be great to crack some days up in the 80s, 90s, even crack 100,000, we can do that," director general of health Dr Ashley Bloomfield said.Â
Last week, the Ministry of Health launched The Big Boost - a campaign encouraging eligible Kiwis to get their booster dose to further their protection against Omicron.Â
Since 3pm on Friday more than 57,000 people have been boosted across New Zealand.Â
As anti-vaccine mandate protesters occupy Parliament grounds for the fifth day in a tense standoff with police, Covid-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins issued a press release yesterday announcing the number of jabs administered to Kiwis had hit the 10 million mark.Â
It was bolstered by a surge in boosters and "healthy uptake" in children aged 5 to 11 having their first does, he said.Â
"Kiwis have really pulled together to protect each other, with 95 per cent of people aged over 12 now fully vaccinated – one of the highest rates in the world. Sixty-one per cent of people over 18 who are due for a booster have already had one – and this is climbing quickly," Hipkins said.Â
To boost access this weekend, many regions had extended opening hours and added sites to their vaccination programmes.Â
Auckland had more than 350 sites open, including the newly minted centre at the Cloud on the waterfront.Â
Northland, the only region yet to hit 90 per cent fully vaccinated, is hosting two Big Boost events today in Dargaville and Kerikeri, with further access for remote areas via mobile units.Â
Additional weekend booster clinics for essential workers will be held in Hawke's Bay this weekend, and Southern DHB has extended opening hours of its drive-through clinic in Dunedin.Â
Bloomfield said all efforts fed into the greater target of reaching 90 per cent of eligible Kiwis boosted by the end of February.Â
About 1.1 million people needed to get their booster in 17 days to reach 90 per cent by the end of the month - almost 65,000 per day.Â
"We're seeing ourselves continue to achieve in terms of our total vaccination rate with over 96 per cent first dose, cracking 95 per cent fully vaccinated, so I think there's no reason why we couldn't keep aspiring to get [boosters] as high as possible."Â
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