New Zealand will end its strict coronavirus lockdown measures and restore more freedoms only when 90 per cent of its eligible population is fully vaccinated, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has said.

Ardern said reaching a 90pc inoculation rate at every District Health Board in the country would make the South Pacific nation one of the most vaccinated countries in the world. Some 68pc of eligible New Zealanders are fully vaccinated and 86pc have had one dose, according to a Reuters report.

“Ultimately we have balanced the desire to reopen quickly while continuing to keep people safe,” Ardern said at a news conference in the capital Wellington.

When the vaccine target is reached, the country will move into a new traffic-light system to manage outbreaks in regions, Ardern said.