NZ on verge of vaccine OK

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern says the Government could green-light a Covid-19 vaccine as soon as next Wednesday, and that New Zealand is keeping pace with Australia’s vaccine distribution.

The first batch of the Pfizer vaccine – for border staff – is due to arrive before the end of March, but the country’s medicine regulator, Medsafe, has not yet approved it.

Ardern said Medsafe would seek the advice and recommendation of its ministerial advisory committee on the Pfizer vaccine on February 2.

‘‘The ministerial expert advisory committee will review Medsafe’s benefit-risk assessment of the pharmaceutical company’s data and, depending on feedback, Medsafe may be able to grant provisional approval as soon as the following day,’’ Ardern said.

‘‘Medsafe’s process not only ensures New Zealanders can feel confident in the vaccines we receive, it’s also been timely and means we will be ready to receive and administer vaccines as soon as Pfizer is in a position to send them.’’

She said that even if Medsafe was not yet ready to approve the vaccine, she expected the agency would be before the first batch of 100,000 doses actually arrived in New Zealand.

It is still unclear when that will happen.

New Zealand has ordered enough of the two-course Pfizer vaccine to cover 750,000 people, with an aim of covering the most exposed to Covid-19 and those most at risk of dying from it. Several other pre-purchasing agreements have been established for vaccines for the wider population.

The announcement comes as the Government faces significant political pressure over the vaccine after a woman in Northland who went through managed isolation subsequently developed Covid-19 symptoms.

Other countries such as Israel have been distributing the vaccine with much more speed, although they are also dealing with serious outbreaks.

Ardern argued that New Zealand had not yet fallen behind Australia – where the government has said vaccinations will start in mid-February – because they had not actually started yet.

But her Covid-19 Minister, Chris Hipkins, has repeatedly said he did not expect the first batch of Pfizer vaccines to arrive until March.

‘‘Australia has not received vaccine yet. New Zealand hasn’t either. There’s nothing to suggest that we will be receiving them with great distance,’’ Ardern said.

She had not shared an exact date as Australia had because she

wanted full confidence about when the drugs would arrive, she said.

‘‘We don’t want to give a date that changes – that’s why we continue to speak in broad terms.’’

Hipkins said that once the Pfizer vaccine arrived, the 10,000 or so border and MIQ workers would be vaccinated within three weeks.

‘‘Our first focus will be vaccinating our border and managed isolation and quarantine workforce and their close contacts. Once the vaccine arrives in New Zealand, we expect to be able to complete vaccinating this group within two to three weeks,’’ he said.

It would be the start of New Zealand’s ‘‘largest ever vaccination campaign’’ and would take some time to complete.

‘‘The most important thing is when we finish, not when we start. However we do intend to get our frontline staff vaccinated as soon as possible. Doing so will add another layer to our border defences. We hope to start vaccinating the wider population mid-year.

‘‘If granted, the provisional approval will mean that Medsafe has sufficient information and assurance of both safety and effectiveness for it to allow vaccination to start – though there will be continued monitoring of the vaccine here and overseas.

‘‘However, if Medsafe decides next week that some additional assurances are required before it grants approval, I accept their decision and am satisfied that it’s the right decision on behalf of all of us,’’ Hipkins said.

North Canterbury GP Richard Clinghan, who spoke out over the weekend about the importance of vaccines, said a 90-95 per cent vaccination rate offered New Zealand good community immunity.

The way to get there was to be optimistic and kind, and avoid conspiracy theories and criticising those in the anti-vax camp, he said.

‘‘It needs to become the norm, and that happens by word of mouth. The vaccine will defend itself – calling people crazy or stupid will never change their mind.’’

Clinghan said he could not understand why people were concerned about the speed at which the vaccine was created, saying it was an amazing achievement rather than a concern.

‘‘As a GP I’ve never had a patient ask me how long it took to develop their drug, in fact when I tell them there is a new one they are usually excited.’’

The Government has signed advance purchase agreements with several pharmaceutical suppliers. Pfizer and BioNTech would supply 1.5m two-dose vaccines – enough to inoculate 750,000 people.

Five million doses of the Janssen Pharmaceutica vaccine would be available, if approved. It would likely be administered through a single dose.

An agreement with Novavax was signed in December to purchase 10.72m doses of its two-dose vaccine – enough for 5.36m people.

The Government has bought 7.6m doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine for 3.8m people.