Covid-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins and Associate Health Minister Ayehsa Verrall will be the first politicians to receive a Covid-19 jab, rolling up their sleeves today.
They'll be followed by other Government ministers with a health or Covid-19 focus — Andrew Little, Peeni Henare and Aupito William Sio —to receive their first dose of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine over the next two weeks.
"The Government is aware there are groups who might be initially reluctant to receive the vaccine because of questions related to safety and science, and the ministers are receiving the vaccine to publicly reinforce its safety and effectiveness," Hipkins said in a statement.
"It is also a show of support for our frontline health workforce, which has recently begun receiving vaccinations."
The ministers follow other world leaders getting vaccinated against the virus, including US President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Israeli Prime Minister Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
There are more than 127.58 million cases of the illness recorded worldwide and almost 2.8 million deaths of people with the illness, according to John Hopkins University.
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