New Zealand buys 500,000 COVID-19 vaccines as the cluster grows

CANBERRA, Sept. 12 (Reuters) – New Zealand has bought 500,000 doses of Pfizer’s COVID-19 (PFE.N) vaccine in Denmark, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said on Sunday as the country struggles with a slew of infections in his largest city.

New Zealand, which reported 20 cases of locally acquired COVID-19 in Auckland on Sunday, said vaccines will arrive in a few days. The latest outbreak now totals 599 infections since the first case was detected in late August.

“There is now more than enough vaccine in the country to be vaccinated at the world-leading rates we were achieving earlier this month, and I strongly encourage all New Zealanders who are not yet vaccinated to do so as soon as possible.” Ardern said in an e-mail.

New Zealand, who until last month had largely dominated the COVID-19, has struggled to eliminate the last group despite Auckland closing for weeks.

About 1.7 million people in Auckland remain in a strict level four blockade, but the limits in the rest of the country have been lowered.

About a third of New Zealand’s 5.1 million people have been completely vaccinated, one of the slowest steps among the rich nations of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development grouping.

Colin Packham Reports; Edited by Raju Gopalakrishnan

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