Covid-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins announced today that Medsafe had granted provisional approval.
He described the Janssen vaccine as a "very safe and very effective" vaccine, but the plan remained to "ramp up and roll out" the Pfizer vaccine.
"It just provides us with flexibility."
Hipkins said the Government had yet to decide when the new vaccine would be made available to New Zealanders.
Hipkins said the Astrazeneca vaccine was another option that was part of the portfolio New Zealand was paying for, and many of those would be donated to other countries, particularly the Pacific.
"Our expectation is our DHBs will be rolling out the vaccine as part of a nationally consistent plan," Hipkins said.
NZ secures 2 million Janssen vaccines
New Zealand had secured 2 million does of the Janssen vaccine through an advance purchase last year.
"We purchased a portfolio of vaccine options to provide us with flexibility, and the approval of a second Covid-19 vaccine is welcome news."
Hipkins said Cabinet would decide in August what the best use for the vaccines were.
"As a single dose vaccine, it may be useful in hard to reach locations or emergencies, or for those who cannot get the Pfizer vaccine."
Hipkins said New Zealand had secured enough doses of the Pfizer vaccine for the population of New Zealand and our Pacific neighbours in 2021.
500,000 Kiwis now fully vaccinated
Meanwhile 500,000 Kiwis have now received both jabs and are fully vaccinated against Covid.
A total of 1.2 million doses have been administered.
There are three new Covid cases to report in managed isolation today. They are travellers from Britain, Malaysia and the UAE.
There are currently 40 active Covid cases in New Zealand.
Close contacts of infected mariners fully vaccinated, were using PPE
In relation to the two Covid-infected mariners on a ship off Taranaki, all three close contacts had been fully vaccinated.
They are a bus driver, a port pilot and a Customs officer.
"All three were wearing PPE when they interacted with the mariners. The bus driver wore a N95 mask for the entire journey. The bus driver has gone to an Auckland quarantine facility and the port pilot and customs officer are self-isolating. They are being tested today."
Urgent whole genome sequencing is underway to determine the variant the mariners have.
The trio were now in MIQ, director general of health Dr Ashley Bloomfield said.
The mariners had arrived aboard a red flight, which means everyone on that flight is in managed isolation for the next 14 days.
Everyone else on the mariners' flight tested negative for Covid-19, Bloomfield said.
"Everyone else on that flight have tested negative and will continue to have routine day 5 and day 12 tests.
"The remaining seven of the nine mariners have returned negative results and all mariners complied with full infection prevention control protocols – including wearing masks – during their transport from Auckland Airport to Port Taranaki."
The vessel they were on was heading back to the Port of Taranaki and all crew would be put into managed isolation.
"We continue to regard this as a low-risk situation," Bloomfield said.
Hipkins said there was robust measures in place to ensure a transit bubble for port workers.
"So we do have that extra layer of protection."
Hipkins said he was in the process of reviewing 500 MIQ rooms left available to people travelling from Australia and would make an announcement next week.
"We are seeing 5 to 7 percent of rooms where there is some disruption from measures that are beyond New Zealand's control due to last minute flight cancellations, he said.
"Bookings are very tight and demand is high."
