Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has defended waiting to get the Covid-19 vaccine.

Her office yesterday announced that Ardern will receive the first dose of the Pfizer vaccine later this month, as the country prepares to open up vaccinations to the wider public.

Pressed by The Country's Jamie Mackay as to why she hadn't had it earlier, Ardern says that that's because she was not at risk, unlike healthcare and border workers. 

"I didn't want to be at the front of the queue when people who are at risk [haven't been vaccinated], but as we start moving into the general population, I am more than happy to take my turn and to lead from the front."

She says that the rollout has been slow in order to sequence it with the supply being received from pharmaceutical companies - and the one thing the Government wanted to avoid was a 'stop-start' rollout by speeding through supplies. 

"We have had limited supply, and in recent weeks we've been using more vaccine than has been entering the country."

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