New Zealand PM Ardern gets COVID-19 vaccine shot

The Pacific island nation shut its borders and used tough lockdown measures to become one of the few countries to have virtually eliminated COVID-19 in the community, but the government is facing criticism for a slow rollout of vaccines.

"For me, I never wanted to be amongst the first, for me we needed to get those front line workers but I also need to be a role model and this demonstrates that it's safe, that it's effective and that it's really important that everyone is vaccinated when they have their opportunity...," she said after receiving the vaccine shot.

About 1 million doses of the Pfizer vaccine has so far been administered in New Zealand. The country's medical authorities are yet to approve the use of any other vaccine, including AstraZeneca.