Unusual high winds prevented the Kaitaki Interislander to berth at Picton for more than 10 hours stranding 579 passengers and crew at sea. Interislander Executive General Manager, Walter Rushbrook, updates Karyn about what happened with the Kaitaki crossing today and what happens next with the Interislander schedule.

Monday night's time for our weekly science and technology segment and tonight is our first for 2021. With the jump up of lockdown levels over night - either level 3 in Auckland or level 2 around the rest of the country, did you have to brush up your Zoom meeting skills, or have you gone from strength to strength with working virtually? Karyn speaks with technology commentator Paul Spain about what trends he's seeing and if there's anything new on the horizon.

Tonight, we cross to the BBC's World Service team in London and Karyn will speak with journalist Audrey Tinline including about how the Covid-19 vaccines are being rolled out in the UK and also in Brazil. Today is also the first day of compulsory hotel quarantine for people arriving in the United Kingdom from countries identified as 'red list'.

Authorities say the latest test results following yesterday's Covid outbreak are encouraging, but caution the next few days will be crucial. After today's Cabinet meetng, the Prime Minister confirmed there'll be no change to the current alert levels for Auckland or the rest of the country. Karyn speaks with epidemiologist Professor Michael Baker for an update and recap since we learned of the three new community cases of Covid-19 yesterday afternoon.

Vaccinologist Helen Petousis-Harris from University of Auckland  talks about the Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine, how it works and what it means for New Zealand's public health.

Tonight is Chinese New Year's Eve and for our weekly The Rest Is History segment we find out about the history of Chinese New Year. Karyn speaks with Linda Lim, one of the organisers of Wellington's Chinese New Year festival that's also celebrating it's 20th year.

A community clinic has been providing lead testing for residents of Waikouaiti, Karitane and Hawkesbury Village in East Otago since Tuesday, as the Dunedin City Council continues to look for the source of lead contamination in the communities' drinking water. Karyn speaks with Waikouaiti Community Board Chair, Alisdair Morrison, about daily life nine days after residents were first told not to drink or cook with their tap water.

The Wellington City Council could increase rates by 17-percent in the next year to pay for infrastructure and resilience. Wellington's Mayor Andy Foster has revealed his budget for the city over the next 10 years which focusses on upgrading the city's ageing and failing water pipes as well as earthquake strengthening key public buildings including the main Wellington Library. The President of the Newtown Residents Association, Rhona Carson, speaks with Karyn about the proposal.

Mediawatch's weekly catch-up with Lately. Tonight: No more Sean Plunket on Magic Talk and Fran O'Sullivan's opinion piece "Time to look beyond the grievances' in the New Zealand Herald.

UK correspondent Olly Barratt igives an update including the National Health Service's vaccine drive, more details of post-Brexit life, and the birth of Princess Eugenie's first baby.