There are 17 new Covid-19 cases in the community today, the Ministry of Health says. 

There are 23 further cases at the border. Omicron is expected to be the "most prevalent variant" at the border, the ministry says, and whole genome sequencing is underway to establish how many new cases are Omicron. 

Forty-four people with the virus are in hospital – 8 at North Shore, 14 at Auckland, 17 at Middlemore, 4 at Tauranga and one at Rotorua 

Of those, five are in intensive care or high dependency units – 2 at Middlemore and 3 at Tauranga 

Of today's community cases, five are in Auckland, three in Waikato, and nine in Bay of Plenty. 

The interval between a person's second vaccine and their booster is officially reduced today to four months from six months. 

It comes after New Zealand registered its third border-related Omicron case – a household contact of the Air New Zealand crew member who tested positive last week with the highly transmissible variant. 

The Ministry of Health is expected to give further information on Omicron's presence in New Zealand in its 1pm update today. 

The gap between the second and booster doses of the vaccine were shortened due to the global emergence of the Omicron variant, which is more transmissible than previous strains. 

Anyone aged 18 and over who had their second dose at least four months ago can get a booster dose. 

In Auckland, the Airport Park and Ride drive-through vaccination centre has reopened, which added significant surge capacity for vaccination efforts. 

The drive-through is located at 42 Verissimo Drive, Māngere, and operates from 10am-5pm with no appointment needed. It can vaccinate more than 4000 people per day. 

On the latest Omicron case, the ministry confirmed the person had been in isolation during their symptomatic period and was fully vaccinated. 

Vaccinators work at the Auckland Airport park and ride drive-through vaccination centre this week. Photo / Alex Burton 

There were no locations of interest related to the person at 1pm yesterday but public health officials were continuing to investigate the person's movements. 

The household contact has now been transferred to a MIQ facility. The second household contact, who is also in isolation, continues to test negative. 

There were 31 new cases in the community yesterday. There were 29 further cases found at the border. 

Some border cases were expected to have the Omicron variant and whole genome sequencing was ongoing. 

Of yesterday's community cases, 14 were in Auckland, one was in Waikato, 12 were in Bay of Plenty and four in Lakes. 

Fifty-three people with Covid-19 were in hospital. Nine were at North Shore, 16 at Auckland, 22 at Middlemore, five at Tauranga and one at Rotorua. 

Almost half (20) were either unvaccinated or ineligible for the vaccine. Eight people had received one dose, 14 were fully vaccinated, with the remainder unknown. 

Of the six people in intensive care or high dependency units, three were at Middlemore and three at Tauranga. 

Yesterday, Auckland health officials expressed their concern that more positive cases and close contacts could be in the community following exposure at escort agency and massage parlour, The Pelican Club. 

"Public health are therefore requesting anyone who visited the venue between 22 and 31 December contacts Healthline on 0800 358 5453 and follows the advice provided on the Locations of Interest website," the spokesperson said. 

The current advice is: 

• Isolate (stay at home) for 10 days after the last visit to the Pelican Club.
• Get tested 5 days and 8 days after they were last at the venue during these dates, regardless of whether or not they have symptoms.
• If symptoms develop at any time during the 10 days, get an additional test immediately.
• Stay at home until all test results come back negative.
• Visit the Locations of Interest website to record their visit online or call Healthline on 0800 358 5453. This is so contact tracers can provide further advice.

Health officials said the club's workers were getting specific advice from their manager. 

Two other Auckland adult entertainment clubs, The Mermaid Club and Femme Fatale, had also been linked to positive Covid-19 cases in the last two weeks. 

The Mermaid Club, at 13 Gore St, was visited by a case between 11.40pm on Wednesday, December 22 and 1am on Thursday, December 23. 

Femme Fatale, an escort agency on Wellesley St West, was visited between 3am-5.20am on Thursday, December 23. 

- by Adam Pearse, NZ Herald