Latest number show 50 hospitalisations and 19 deaths with the virus within the span of a week.
University of Otago professor of public health Michael Baker said earlier this week that New Zealand was experiencing its ninth wave of the virus.
The chairperson of General Practice New Zealand, Dr Bryan Betty, told RNZ's Morning Report programme today that vaccination rates were dropping, with the number of people getting a booster hovering at 56%.
As winter came closer, Betty believed the Covid booster would be promoted alongside the annual flu vaccination.
"I think lining it up with it [the flu vaccine] does make sense."
He would like to see people getting a Covid booster once a year, especially if they were aged over 65, or over 50 if of Māori descent.
Betty noted Covid-19 was not seasonal and affected people year-round.
"Covid is always with us, it never goes away. When immunity drops we see a wave. Due to low immunisation rates that wave is occurring at the moment."
Betty said 56 % of the eligible population had the Covid-19 booster, while 14% of non-Māori and 28% of Māori were not vaccinated at all.
"The booster vaccination is important to protect yourself against these very irregular waves of Covid that can occur."
Dr Nick Chamberlain, Health NZ's national director of public health service, said while Covid hospitalisations and cases had increased in recent weeks, levels remained below previous peaks.
"Since the arrival of Covid in our communities, we have been seeing both summer and winter Covid-19 increases. But from the available data, recent increases are currently not near the magnitude of 2022-2024 rates of Covid-19 illness."
Chamberlain said since fewer people were testing and reporting results, most cases were identified in hospitals, and there was no single dominant variant driving the increase.
Health NZ was monitoring Covid-19 trends through wastewater testing, hospital data, genomic sequencing and case reporting, he said.
"As we head into winter, we encourage people - particularly those at higher risk- to get your flu vaccination and stay up to date with their Covid‑19 boosters."
Betty said lots of patients were not testing themselves due to the fact tests were not subsidised by the government.
"Our advice is to stay home in those situations."
