The Pfizer Covid-19 vaccine has received final approval from the Government, which next week will launch an information campaign to encourage people to get inoculated.
Covid-19 Minister Chris Hipkins on Wednesday said Cabinet had confirmed the approval of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine, and preparations were underway to roll out the vaccine once it reaches New Zealand’s shores.
The vaccine announcement came as Director-General of Health Dr Ashley Bloomfield said there were three new cases of Covid-19 in managed isolation on Wednesday.
The vaccine was given provisional approval by Medsafe nearly a week ago. As well as now having sign off from the Government, the Environmental Protection Authority has approved it for use.
The Government is continuing to go by the book and has carefully considered the decision to use the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine as part of our nationwide programme, Hipkins said, in a statement.
Medsafe group manager Chris James outlines the vaccine approval process.
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Medsafes provisional approval was step one … After receiving further advice, Cabinet has endorsed officials advice to use Pfizer/BioNTech.
Now weve reached the crucial stage of approval for the first vaccine, we are in a much better position to start having a conversation with New Zealanders about how we plan to proceed, recognising the natural questions some will have. Information campaigns will start from next week to support this.
Covid-19 response minister Chris Hipkins says the Government has signed off on use of the Pfizer Covid-19 vaccine.
Hipkins said while the process for the Pfizer vaccine was relatively straightforward, there was a huge amount of detail to consider for other vaccines being sought by New Zealand AstraZeneca, Janssen, and Novavax, amounting to more than 20 millions doses.
The Government has ordered 1.5 million Pfizer vaccines, enough for 750,000 people, which the company last week confirmed would be in New Zealand before the end of March.
A vial of the Pfizer Covid-19 vaccine for Covid-19.
Hipkins on Wednesday said the Government continued to seek a further 750,000 doses through the global COVAX facility.
The Pfizer vaccine will first be rolled out to border and frontline workers, which include nurses, cleaners and security staff at managed isolation facilities.
Last week, Medsafe group manager Chris James said other vaccine manufacturers had sent applications to the medicines’ regulator, which would assess the vaccines at once.
Janssen applied earlier and had been submitting data for some time, meaning Medsafe considered it likely to make a decision in the early part of the second quarter of 2021.
Novovax, the other vaccine manufacturer that the New Zealand Government has ordered 5.4 million doses from, had not yet applied to Medsafe.
