Aucklanders are encouraged to get vaccinated this weekend, the region's first at alert level 3 during this Delta outbreak.
Nine new community cases of COVID-19 were recorded on Friday, all in Auckland. These are all linked to the outbreak.
Meanwhile, new COVID-19 modelling paints a grim picture, with health systems forecast to be overwhelmed if only 80 percent of New Zealanders get vaccinated against the virus. Officials want to reach above 90 percent for lockdowns to be put to the side.
The Prime Minister has set Auckland the challenge of getting to 90 percent vaccinated by October 4, when Cabinet will consider if the region can move to alert level 2. Earlier this week, it moved past the 80 percent mark.
While he wouldn't characterise it as a target, Labour MP David Parker told The AM Show on Friday that if we can get to 90 percent vaccinated "we can open up safely without lockdowns and people can get all the freedoms back that we used to, travel, get back to the new normal".
What you need to know:
Nine community cases of COVID-19 were recorded in Auckland on Thursday
The case total of New Zealand's Delta outbreak is now 1131
New modelling shows even if New Zealand reaches a COVID-19 vaccination rate of 80 percent, there would still be 60,000 hospitalisations and 7000 deaths per year, without restrictions
Forty percent of New Zealanders are fully vaccinated against COVID-19
Work is underway to make COVID-19 vaccinations mandatory for health workers.
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