Jacinda Ardern has taken to Facebook live to dispel misinformation around her Government's plan to combat Omicron - and took no prisoners after one person commented on her ageing.
Earlier on Tuesday COVID-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins revealed the suite of precautionary measures to lower the risk of the far more contagious variant escaping into the community.
These include rolling out a kids' version of the Pfizer vaccine to children aged five to 11 from January 17.
Appearing on a live video later on Tuesday to clarify some of the points, Ardern responded to the public's questioning about this.
"I'm going to speak to this directly because I've seen a lot of misinformation about this online," she said.
"The decision over whether or not someone's children is vaccinated is a parent's or caregiver's. It absolutely requires your consent. There is no mandate around children being vaccinated - it is up to a parent or caregiver. So I just thought I would make that nice and clear again."
Ardern also dispelled other health rumours after she coughed several times in the video, with some speculating if she had COVID-19 herself.
"I can assure you I'm very, very well and healthy. I just swallowed down the wrong - down my windpipe so excuse the little cough there for a minute," Ardern replied.
And then she directly responded to one comment on her appearance.
"Amanda thinks I've aged. Merry Christmas to you too Amanda," Ardern told her.
Her response drew applause from other commenters, who took swipes at Amanda for her remark.
"Amanda, did you get that personal message? Because Jacinda was far more polite than I was when I read your note. You get more from honey than from vinegar," one person responded.
