Covid 19

Analysis - Vaccination rates are slow in Te Tai Tokerau, where government neglect of the region has created fertile ground for mistrust, writes RNZ reporter Nita Blake-Persen.

Virologist Sarah Palmer and her colleagues at Sydney's Westmead Institute virus research centre are working overtime to learn more about the Omicron variant.

Wairoa locals talk with reporter Tom Kitchin about the introduction of the traffic light system and how to increase their vaccinations to move up out of red.

Pharmacists say they are stretched and tired, providing Covid-19 vaccines and passes on top of their usual mahi.

The Covid-19 outbreak in Nelson seems to have given people the nudge they needed to get their first vaccination.

The country's courts need more time to set up the infrastructure to operate under the traffic light system.

There are fears from health professionals that the government's sudden boost in hospital funding to prepare for Covid-19 cases is overly-ambitious so late into the pandemic.

Tens of thousands of people who have had trouble obtaining a vaccine certificate have been issued a temporary pass, as the Ministry of Health struggles to keep up with processing demands.

An immunologist says proper checks are needed ahead of children's Covid-19 vaccine rollout, while police and iwi to work together on Northland checkpoints.

The clock is ticking for the government to get children aged five to 11 vaccinated against Covid-19. Audio

The Covid-19 Pfizer vaccine could be available for children from the end of January, while the Omicron variant reaching MIQ is 'inevitable' the Covid-19 Response Minister says.

In the Auckland District Health Board area, 96.2 percent of eligible people have had at least one dose of the Covid-19 vaccine.

The boss of an iwi healthcare provider in Taranaki is worried a shortage of oximeters will hamper its ability to help whānau isolating at home with Covid-19.

The head of a South Auckland health service says she's seeing little evidence that lessons have been learned from deaths in home isolation, with people waiting over a week to be contacted or isolating…

The tourism industry is grappling with the prospect of its new normal being years away with billions of dollars lost by then and many more hurdles ahead - including its latest, the new Covid variant…

The entire South Island has been placed in the orange light setting, meaning life can almost get back to normal.

A group of kaumātua in Auckland are among the first in the country to receive their booster shots this morning.

Cabinet will decide today which regions go into the most restrictive 'red' setting under the Covid-19 traffic light system and which enter the new system at orange.

The potential spread of Covid-19 in apartments, particularly ones without windows that open, is raising alarm.