New research says Covid-19 vaccines saved thousands of lives in New Zealand

The study compared what happened with scenarios that had different levels of vaccine coverage.

It estimates between 44-hundred and 12-thousand lives were saved - and between 34 and 56-thousand hospitalisations prevented between January 2022 and last June.

Study co-author professor Michael Plank says it's important future vaccine rollouts are equitable.

He says they estimated between 11 and 26 percent of Maori Covid deaths could've been prevented if Maori vaccination rates were on par with those of European ethnicity.