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dpa
Wellington
New Zealand has purchased enough of the COVID-19 vaccine jointly developed by Pfizer and BioNTech to vaccinate the entire population, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said on Monday.
“I’m very please to announce today that we have signed an advanced purchase agreement with Pfizer for an additional 8.5 million doses of the vaccine. The extra doses will be enough to vaccinate 4.25 million people,” she said at a press conference.
The additional doses on top of the initial purchase order means the government “will be buying enough for everyone in New Zealand to be fully vaccinated with the Pfizer vaccine,” Ardern said.
New Zealand began its vaccine roll-out last month with jabs of the Pfizer/BioNTech shot given to heath-care workers. It is expected to take until the end of the year for everyone in the country of some 5 million to be fully vaccinated.
The Health Ministry is working with Pfizer on a delivery schedule and inoculations for the general public will accelerate in the middle of the year, Ardern said.
Adern said the decision to rely only on Pfizer was due to the jab’s high efficacy rate and that having just one formulation to handle “will simplify, in some respects, [the] vaccine roll-out.” New Zealand has been spared by the pandemic compared to most countries, thanks to strict border closures and robust contact-tracing.
The country has reported a little over 2,000 cases of Covid-19 and a total of 26 deaths.
Wellington
New Zealand has purchased enough of the COVID-19 vaccine jointly developed by Pfizer and BioNTech to vaccinate the entire population, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said on Monday.
“I’m very please to announce today that we have signed an advanced purchase agreement with Pfizer for an additional 8.5 million doses of the vaccine. The extra doses will be enough to vaccinate 4.25 million people,” she said at a press conference.
The additional doses on top of the initial purchase order means the government “will be buying enough for everyone in New Zealand to be fully vaccinated with the Pfizer vaccine,” Ardern said.
New Zealand began its vaccine roll-out last month with jabs of the Pfizer/BioNTech shot given to heath-care workers. It is expected to take until the end of the year for everyone in the country of some 5 million to be fully vaccinated.
The Health Ministry is working with Pfizer on a delivery schedule and inoculations for the general public will accelerate in the middle of the year, Ardern said.
Adern said the decision to rely only on Pfizer was due to the jab’s high efficacy rate and that having just one formulation to handle “will simplify, in some respects, [the] vaccine roll-out.” New Zealand has been spared by the pandemic compared to most countries, thanks to strict border closures and robust contact-tracing.
The country has reported a little over 2,000 cases of Covid-19 and a total of 26 deaths.
