The first vaccinations for Covid-19 have taken place in the South Island. 

About 40 border workers from Christchurch Airport were vaccinated this morning at a nearby community-based testing centre.

They included a range of people, such as aviation security workers, cleaners, police, customs workers and health protection officers who screen passengers arriving on international flights.

Yesterday, 35 of the Canterbury-based vaccination team gave and received the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine to prepare for today's rollout.

The vaccines have been transported in special containers to the South Island after being transported there from the ultra-low temperature (ULT) storage facility in Auckland.

"This passes a milestone of the first 1000 border workers and vaccinators in New Zealand to receive their first dose," COVID-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins says. 

"That’s a great start and we appreciate the effort of the vaccinators and border workers." 

There were no new community cases of Covid-19 today, the Ministry confirmed. 

There are now 11 active cases in the Auckland cluster, after three new cases were confirmed yesterday, all linked.

Director General of Health Ashley Bloomfield told RNZ's Morning Report this morning that there was no indication alert levels would need to be upgraded again at this stage. 

About 20 per cent of New Zealand’s approximately 12,000 border and Managed Isolation & Quarantine (MIQ) workers are based in Canterbury.

Health Protection Officer Debbie Smith was one of those vaccinated today. 

"It's another level of armour and I feel like a superhero on the inside now," she said. 

"Working on the frontline, you tend to live your life differently. There have been events I’ve thought twice about going to because of the potential risk I pose and that’s where the vaccination is going to let me live my life a little bit more normally, I hope."

Her colleague and fellow Health Protection Officer, Jimmy Wong, said getting vaccinated was a huge relief because it meant greater protection for his family.

"I’ve got a three-month-old baby at the moment and it’s very important to me to do what I can to protect myself and to protect my family."

Both have worked at Christchurch International Airport since 26 January last year and one of their key roles is health screening people returning to New Zealand on international flights, which puts them in close contact with people potentially with COVID-19.

A second batch of Pfizer/BioNTech vaccines arrived safely yesterday at Auckland International Airport.

"This shipment contained about 76,000 doses, and follows our first shipment of 60,000 doses that arrived last week. We expect further shipments of vaccine over the coming weeks," Hipkins said.

By the end of March, New Zealand is due to receive a total of about 450,000 doses – enough to vaccinate 225,000 people with a two-dose course.

"The Ministry of Health is working with Pfizer/BioNTech to develop a delivery schedule for the vaccines that ensures a smooth rollout and scaling up of our immunisation programme as we rollout to the general public in mid-year.

"We started our immunisation programme to around 12,000 border and managed isolation and quarantine workers last Saturday, and once completed, we’ll begin vaccinating their household contacts."

A shipment of 490,000 special-purpose needles also arrived yesterday to New Zealand, which will help vaccination teams maximise safe usage of the vaccine.