Covid-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins and Associate Health Minister Dr Ayesha Verrall have received their first dose of the coronavirus vaccine.
The ministers received the jab in an effort to publicly reinforce its safety and effectiveness to help combat vaccine hesitancy.
The Government has also written to other political parties inviting their MPs with health and Covid-19-focused portfolios to also get vaccinated.
On why the ministers decided to get vaccinated today, Hipkins said the Government had to weigh up the public perception of 'Why aren't they getting the vaccine?' i.e is it not safe? vs are government ministers jumping the queue by getting special treatment? He said the public was looking to politicians to show leadership.
He said he got the vaccination today to try counter misinformation that is being spread about the vaccine.
"We are working hard to get good impartial, fact-based and health-based information out there so people can make informed decisions."
Hipkins said he knows that the big tech companies such as Google and Facebook are "flagging up" misinformation but that those companies also strike a balance of free speech. He said that was why people should be relying on the information that the Ministry of Health produces.
Verrall said "we are leading the vaccination campaign, we need to show we have confidence in the vaccine".
Health Minister Andrew Little has clearance to get the vaccine over the next couple of weeks, Hipkins said.
As for Opposition leader Judith Collins getting the vaccine, she told RNZ's Morning Report programme she was "absolutely" on board.
"I'll probably get one later this year, unless the government particularly asks me to do so because I would be setting a good example."
Collins said she was not in any of the at-risk categories.
VACCINE ROLLOUT
Hipkins said the vaccine rollout is "well through" the border workforce now. Families of border workers were starting to receive the vaccine and frontline health workers were also getting vaccinated.
As of midnight Tuesday, 66,296 doses of the Pfizer vaccine had been administered - about 52,183 people - and that 16,483 of those have had the full two doses. About 5500 were administered yesterday.
Hipkins expected that number to incrementally go up to 7000 to 8000 a day and then maintain that level over the next couple of months before the next big shipments of the vaccine arrive in the country.
Daily updates on the number of vaccines administered would start from next week. He said the reason updates haven't been happening was because the Government wanted to make sure the numbers it was releasing were accurate and that the systems used to record the data were up to scratch.
Earlier this month, the Government announced it had purchased enough of the Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine for every New Zealander.
It said that two million New Zealanders would get their first vaccination in the next three to four months under the roll-out plan which initially focuses on the most at-risk groups.
In February, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said it would take a year to reach all New Zealanders with the vaccine.
- RNZ and NZ Herald
