A quarter of New Zealanders are unlikely to take the Covid-19 Pfizer and BioNTech vaccine if offered.

The new Ministry of Health data shows Māori and Pasifika have less confidence in the safety and reliability of the vaccine compared to Pākehā.

Covid-19 response minister Chris Hipkins has confirmed there will be a specific vaccine roll-out for Māori.

Vaccinologist Helen Petousis-Harris told Kate Hawkesby she does not believe the current lack of confidence will remain when the roll-out begins.

"I think a lot of people really don't know yet, they want to see... before they want to take it themselves. I think we've got a lot of work to do yet, and I think that might change."

Ms Petousis-Harris believes there has been a lot of misinformation injected into the Māori and Pasifika communities.

"That's been growing over time, so I think we really need to do a lot of work there and a lot of the communication needs to be at the community level from trusted messengers."