Parliament has passed a law to allow for people deemed at most risk of getting seriously ill from Covid-19 to be given a second booster shot.
The finalised groups of people eligible for a fourth dose of the Pfizer vaccine are expected to be announced by Director-general of health Dr Ashley Bloomfield on Thursday.
Without the law change people would have needed to access a GP to get a second booster.
The amendment to the Medicines Act enables voluntary booster doses to be administered without a prescription.
It comes after the Ministry of Health’s Covid-19 Vaccine Technical Advisory Group recommended that people who were at high risk of getting very sick from a Covid-19 infection should have a second booster six months after the first.
Health Minister Andrew Little said the changes to the Medicines Act were a more enduring way to manage the administration of vaccine boosters from now on.
“The changes we have made today mean that the director-general of health now has the ability to make boosters available to those who need them, meaning people don’t need an individual prescription to get one.”
