Elective surgeries are being postponed as the health system responds to the highest levels of demand seen in recent years.
Health New Zealand says acute care has to be prioritised.
Its national chief medical officer Dame Helen Stokes-Lampard said patient numbers are above historic winter levels.
She said the pressure is expected to continue for at least another three to four weeks – but numbers have reduced from the "exceptionally high levels" seen in August.
It follows Pharmac's decision to fund the flu vaccine for children aged 6 months up until their fifth birthday from next year. (Source: 1News)
Earlier this year, the Government put an extra $25 million towards extra beds and staff recruitment to prepare for winter.
Health NZ said at Middlemore Hospital in Auckland, it was redeploying staff and offering overtime shifts to address the high number of patients at its emergency department.
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Where procedures are deferred, Stokes-Lampard said patients can be assured it will only happen when safe to do so.
"The decision to defer care is not taken lightly and all decisions are made on a case-by-case basis by clinical teams with patient safety and wellbeing as the highest priority.
"Surgeries are always rescheduled for the next available opportunity, and we consider the acuity of a patient's condition to ensure those with the highest need are treated first."
Speaking to Morning Report, Association of Salaried Medical Specialists executive director Sarah Dalton said members were "really feeling" the pressure.
Winter sickness keeps parts of the country in a chokehold, affecting schools, workplaces and aged care facilities. (Source: 1News)
About 200 members attended a conference last week and Dalton said nobody in the room worked in a service not under pressure – with a lot of them saying they'd never known it to be this bad.
"The idea that you can pump a few million bucks and a handful of workers into our hospitals a few weeks before winter and that will help is just magical thinking."
Dalton acknowledged the medical professionals working hard in hospitals across the country to try keep people safe in conditions that aren't "particularly safe".
She also said she was "very aware" of how delays to elective care can cause real trauma and difficulty to patients and their families.
Dalton said some were having to stop eating before surgeries only for the procedures to be cancelled at the last minute.
Others had to organise leave and childcare while planning to be away from home.
The unpredictability can cause anxiety, cost and disruption - which is "really regrettable", she said.
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