/cloudfront-ap-southeast-2.images.arcpublishing.com/nzme/3YFFKCF4WBRLJAHRDXSRQR27SY.jpg)
All New Zealanders will be able to get a vaccine against Covid-19 with 15 million doses now secured with the launch scheduled for the second half of next year.
The government is also working “very closely” with Australia to ensure deployment across the Pacific, Ardern said.
The government revealed that two additional vaccines have been secured.
The new vaccines are AstraZeneca – 7.6 million doses for 3.8 million people – and Novavax – 10.72 million doses, enough for 5.36 million people.
If the launch is planned, it is enough for each kiwi and to provide the Pacific neighbors of New Zealand with the government that plans to provide vaccines to cover the kingdom of New Zealand: Tokelau, Niue, Cook Islands.
It will also get enough source to cover Samoa, Tonga and Tuvalu if their governments want to take over.
Vaccines will be free for all kiwis.
Vaccines cover three different types of technology through agreements with four manufacturers:
– 750,000 Pfizer / BioNTech courses;
– 5 million Janssen courses;
– 3.8 million Oxford University / AstraZeneca courses; i
– 5.36 million Novavax courses
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern unveiled the government’s vaccine strategy alongside the ministers of Health, Covid-19 Response and Science and Research on the University of Auckland’s medical research campus.
The first priority will be frontier workers and essential workers who are expected to receive the vaccine in the second quarter of 2021.
These workers include the border and MIQ staff, front-line health workers from Covid-19 and their family contacts.
The plan is to vaccinate the rest of the general public during the second half of next year, depending on the speed of manufacture and the signing of Medsafe, which is developing an accelerated approval process.
“We are moving forward as quickly as possible, but we also want to make sure the vaccine is safe for New Zealanders,” Ardern said.
The researchers investigated how long the antibodies lasted and anticipated that more information will be available next year about ongoing vaccination programs.
“Never before has everyone tried to vaccinate the entire population at once. This will be a sustained deployment for months, not weeks, but our pre-purchase agreements put New Zealand in a good position to continue as soon as possible. it has been shown to be safe to do so “.
Ardern said most countries were considering launching by 2021 and some by 2022 because of its scale, complexity and due to production and delivery deadlines.
Ardern said the countries granting emergency approval for vaccines were those facing public health emergencies and increasing death tolls and New Zealand was not in that position.
“Obviously we’re in a completely different situation here.”
Ardern said “much is unknown” about the vaccines and that a lot of work had been put into safety provisions and that all the extras could be sold or given to other countries.
Pfizer, as the first taxi out of range, was in high demand, but no country had secured enough to cover its entire population, Ardern said.
Ardern said the government had not been specific with the deadlines because they depended on the schedules of drug manufacturers.
The Government foresaw that some vaccines would not be delivered, which is why it had acquired so many doses and options.
Research, Science and Innovation Minister Megan Woods said the government’s vaccination strategy was not to put all the eggs in one basket, as there were no guarantees that they would complete clinical trials or be developed with success.
“Our plan is to make sure no one gets lost, even if it means we’ve bought more than we need. It’s an investment worth making,” Woods said.
“The world of vaccine development is dynamic. While we are confident that our four agreements put us in an excellent position, we do not rule out other purchases if necessary.”
Woods said the four government-guaranteed vaccines were complementary to each other.
“Our purchasing strategy was deliberate,” Woods said.
The Government turned to a group of vaccine experts who drafted the strategy.
The launch
Covid-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins said they were preparing for New Zealand’s largest vaccination program.
There are about 12,000 health professionals capable of administering vaccines and the Government plans to train more.
Hipkins said the vaccination program would require “a great deal of logistical effort,” including the Pfizer vaccine that should be stored at about -70 ° C.
In particular, the government wanted to focus on creating a diverse workforce to administer the vaccine, Hipkins said.
It would depend on the logistics of how many more people had to be hired on the staff.
The new National Immunization Solution (NIS) that was developed this year after the measles outbreak will be used by the Ministry of Health to track inventory with information on where doses are located and at what temperature they are maintained.
Concerns were raised this year ahead of the launch of the flu vaccine; some GPs ran out quickly while vaccines were not used on pharmacy shelves.
Hipkins said the NIS would allow health officials to track and trace Covid-19 vaccines and consumables, including expiration dates that would reduce waste.
In addition, the Ministry of Health has acquired nine large -80C freezers that can store more than 1.5 million doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine that will arrive by the end of the year.
Health Minister Andrew Little said the aim of vaccinating front-line health workers first was to further strengthen the border and “create a nationwide layer of protection”.
Vaccination of this group will begin in the second quarter of 2021, followed by the general population (in stages) from the third quarter.
“We are incorporating into our planning a large number of complex and interconnected individual threads, including the safety approval process, global supply chains, as well as delivery times to manufacture and ship vaccines in large quantities,” he said. Little.
Little said it was “absolutely vital” that there be good vaccine coverage in the community.
The government would contact Kaupapa’s Maori providers to ensure that communities that normally have poor access to health care are included in the vaccination program.
The vaccines will be voluntary, but Little said the government would send “very strong messages” about the vaccines.
Medsafe has agreed to allow pharmaceutical companies to make ongoing requests for their Covod-19 vaccines so they can submit their data when they are completed and ready for evaluation to speed up the process.
“Pfizer and BioNTech and Janssen have already started sending data, and the timing of Medsafe’s approval process depends on many factors, such as the data provided by companies and whether they meet internationally agreed safety and efficiency criteria.
“Medsafe has streamlined its evaluation processes and prioritizes the evaluation of Covid-19 vaccines over other pharmaceuticals to get a vaccine faster, but there will be no compromise on vaccine safety. Medsafe will continue. in close contact with his Australian counterpart throughout. “
The launch of the Pacific
The Government has also provided details on how it plans to support New Zealand’s Pacific partners and residents.
It will use $ 75 million in official development assistance to fund the deployment.
And $ 10 million from this fund will be an additional contribution to Covax’s Advanced Facilities Market Commitment, which supports equitable access to vaccines.
Foreign Minister Nanaia Mahuta said New Zealand’s focus will be on buying enough vaccines to cover the Kingdom of New Zealand (Tokelau, Niue, Cook Islands) and our Polynesian neighbors (Samoa, Tonga, Tuvalu) in case their governments want to take over.
$ 75 million in Official Development Assistance had been allocated to support access to and deployment of vaccines in the Pacific and the world.
“New Zealand is pursuing a portfolio of potential Covid-19 vaccines to ensure we have flexibility and options in the fast-moving global market. We want to make sure that Pacific countries can also access the right options and have the support they need vaccination campaigns to run successfully “.