Welington, Jun 18 (IANS): New Zealand citizens aged over 60 will be offered vaccination from July 28 and those aged over 55 from August 11, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said.

The rollout of the vaccine to the general population will be carried out in age groups as is the approach commonly used overseas, with those over 45 years old to receive vaccine invitations from mid to late August, those over 35 years old from mid to late September, and everyone else being eligible from October, Ardern told a press conference on Thursday.

"Our vaccination program is ahead of plan, with nearly 1 million doses administered and operating at 107 per cent of target," Xinhua news agency quoted the Prime Minister as saying.

"From the end of July, we will enter a new phase of our vaccination program when we start receiving the bulk of our vaccines and are able to broaden the rollout considerably to the wider population," she said.

"When it's your age bands' turn to be vaccinated you will receive an invitation from the Ministry of Health to make a booking.

"You will get this invite either by email, text, mail or by phone," the Prime Minister said, adding the risk of Covid-19 increases as one gets older.

The government will be putting in place measures such as mass vaccine events, workplace vaccinations and vaccinations for entire rural and isolated communities all at once, Ardern said.

She added that every eligible New Zealand resident will have the opportunity to be vaccinated by the end of the year.