(Bloomberg) – New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has set a 90% vaccination target for Auckland to emerge from lockdown and more freedoms to be restored across the country.

Once 90% of the eligible population aged 12 and over is fully immunized, the government will begin to ease restrictions and introduce a new traffic light system to assess the level of risk in each region, Ardern said during of a press conference Friday in Wellington. The government will measure immunization rates for every district health council across the country, she said.

“A target of 90% fully vaccinated vaccines in each DHB region was set as the milestone to trigger the country’s transition to the new system,” Ardern said. “This goal ensures good regional distribution across the country and will also help address equity issues within each region.”

Auckland, the country’s largest city, has been stranded for more than two months while mask-wearing and social distancing are mandatory across New Zealand. The country had pursued a strict elimination strategy but has been unable to defeat an outbreak of the delta variant in Auckland as the number of new daily cases has increased in recent weeks.

“Our current alert level framework and elimination strategy have protected us and kept the economy running while we were vaccinating, but now that more and more Kiwis are being protected by the vaccine, we need a new plan that moves away from blockages as our primary defense against the virus, ”Ardern mentioned.

Currently, around 68% of the eligible population is fully vaccinated, while 86% have received at least one injection.

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