New Zealand started its vaccination program on Saturday with a small group of border workers and isolation and quarantine staff receiving the first shots of Pfizer-BioNTech's COVID-19 vaccine in Auckland.

"Today, we kick off the largest immunization program in our history, by vaccinating the first of our border workforce, a critical step in protecting everyone in Aotearoa," New Zealand health minister Ashley Bloomfield told reporters in Auckland, using the country's indigenous Maori name.

The vaccination will start in Wellington and Christchurch next week, while the inoculation plan for common citizens will be announced soon.

New Zealand expects its nationwide rollout covering its five million people will take a full year.

(With input from Reuters)