Vaccinations for the rest of Aotearoa New Zealand

The COVID-19 vaccination rollout for the general population starts from the end of July.

Our COVID-19 vaccination programme has built momentum steadily since February. We are vaccinating around 100,000 people a week at the moment. In the second half of the year we hit top speed and everyone in New Zealand aged 16 and over will be able to be vaccinated.

Moving to the general population

So far, vaccinations have been made available to those most at risk of getting COVID-19 to limit the chances of it getting into the wider population.

With more vaccine supply coming on, and having ramped up our infrastructure, vaccinations for everyone else in New Zealand aged 16 and over (the general population) start from 28 July. This is a very large group of people. To make this flow smoothly, we will break this down by age bands.

All people aged 60 plus can book their vaccinations from 28 July. Then, two weeks later, people who are 55 plus. From there, new age bands will be opened up every 2–3 weeks based on confirmed deliveries of the vaccine and the speed of rollout to earlier groups. By mid to late August, invitations should be open for people over 45. By mid to late September, invitations should be open for those over 35, with everyone else being eligible from October.

Invitations

Most people will get a direct invitation to book – either by email, text, phone call or in the post. You will then be able to book through Book My Vaccine, a new national booking system that will be online from 28 July, or phone a new national call centre. Availability of booking slots (the date, time and place you can be vaccinated) will vary between district health board (DHB) regions.

Once you are eligible to be vaccinated, you can be vaccinated at any time. There is no cut off.

Registration

Even if your age band isn’t open, everyone aged 16 and over will be able to go to Book My Vaccine to register for an invitation from 28 July. Registration means we will be certain to have your correct contact details and when your age group is opened, you will get an invitation telling you it’s your turn to book.