Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has said New Zealand will require teachers and workers in the health and disability sectors to be fully vaccinated against Covid-19 as she extended restrictions in Auckland for another week, Reuters reports.

"New Zealand is at one of the trickiest and most challenging moments in the Covid-19 pandemic so far," Ardern told reporters in Wellington.

Ardern, however, said "there is a clear path forward" in the next few months to live with fewer curbs and more freedoms once the country reaches a higher level of vaccinations.

Health and disability sector workers will have to be fully vaccinated by December 1, while school and early learning staff must get their two doses by January 1, Covid-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins said.