Covid vaccine likely in March: PM

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern says New Zealand is on track to have a Covid-19 vaccine here in March, but not everyone will get a jab at the same time.

She said more details would come later this month.

Ardern was on Newstalk ZB with Mike Hosking this morning talking about significant steps in climate change as well as opening up the borders to additional workers in the coming summer months during the Covid pandemic.

So far two vaccines have been announced for New Zealand - from Pfizer and Janssen.

Pfizer's product could be in the country as early as March and is a two-dose vaccine that would cover 750,000 people.

Janssen's requires just one injection but would not get here until closer to September, with two million initial doses and more to follow if needed.

Meanwhile, Ardern said this morning an announcement of a potential travel bubble between New Zealand and the Cook Islands was still being worked through. She would not be drawn on a timeline.

She said New Zealand's climate emergency would be declared this week.

"This is the first opportunity we have with parliament back."

Ardern is personally introducing the motion in Parliament tomorrow. She said it had been called for for some time but a declaration in Parliament doesn't have the same effect as power being granted in a civil defence emergency.

"However, we're very much of the view that we do need to make sure that we are sending very clear messages into the public service and equally outwardly around what our expectations are of the work that needs to be done."

"This is an issue where if we don't have both mitigation and adaptation working at pace people, for instance, lose their houses, assets that are of value to us as taxpayers are compromised.

"There are very real effects from us not taking action on this issue that are akin to what becomes a civil defence emergency."

Last week Ardern said Labour had always considered climate change to be "a huge threat to our region".

It was something that had to be tackled immediately, she said.

This morning she denied the move was "woke symbolism" and said it was important to take this step.

She said if the Government didn't do something, people would lose their houses and assets would be destroyed, with the climate change toll on our environment becoming akin to a civil state of emergency.

Workers allowed in

It was revealed on Friday the Government would let in 2000 workers from the Pacific early next year to pick fruit for the horticulture and wine industries.

Their arrival is hoped to cover a huge hole in the labour force and avert what many growers have been calling a crisis.

But there are government conditions to the deal.

Employers will have to pay the workers a living wage of $22.10 an hour, pay them 30 hours a week while they're in managed isolation for 14 days, and cover their isolation costs - estimated at $4472 a worker.