Case numbers declined for the second consecutive day yesterday, though experts warn against complacency with "mystery cases" continuing to linger.
September 1 also marks the day the country south of Auckland moves to alert level 3, while Auckland and Northland remain at level 4.
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said the move to level 3 was "progress" but still required "a high level of caution".
Today is also the day the vaccination programme opens to those aged under 30 and over 12, about 1.5m people.
Ardern said the Government could need to slow vaccine rollout to pre-outbreak levels if it cannot secure more supplies - and has not ruled out slowing or halting new bookings in other regions to allow it to keep pace in Auckland.
Ardern said the "surge" prompted by the outbreak had pushed vaccine rates up to 80,000-90,000 a day - and well over 500,000 a week.
The problem is about 800,000 doses are in stock, and deliveries at the moment are averaging about 300,000 a week.
The original rollout plan was to be vaccinating about 350,000 people a week at this point.
Ardern said yesterday efforts continued to secure more vaccines keep up with that surge demand, and she would be making announcements on these in the coming days.
It is understood efforts include looking at swapping vaccines with other countries further along their rollouts for ours at a later date - similar to deals Australia has done with Poland and Singapore.
