WELLINGTON (Reuters) – New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said on Friday that the country’s COVID-19 inoculation program is likely to start on February 20, anticipated by the receipt of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine than initially foreseen.
Pressure has been mounting on Ardern to start vaccinating the country’s 5 million people in order to take advantage of his rare position of having virtually eliminated the virus internally.
“Last year, we indicated that the vaccine would arrive in the second quarter and, earlier this year, we upgraded to the first quarter,” Ardern told reporters. “It is a pleasure to receive doses so early in the first room.”
New Zealand and neighboring Australia formally approved the vaccine jointly developed by the American pharmaceutical company Pfizer Inc and the German company BioNTech. Australia said it hopes to start vaccinating by the end of this month, without giving a specific date.
However, Ardern said vaccination programs would not have an immediate impact on a stagnant trans-Tasman travel bubble. Australia and New Zealand had hoped to allow bilateral travel by the end of March, but new outbreaks of coronavirus in Australia have paralyzed these plans.
Ardern said border restrictions could be eased if there was evidence that vaccines reduce transmission.
“This will be a significant change if we see evidence emerging and I am sure it will make a difference to travel the world,” she said. “But at this stage, it won’t necessarily make a difference.”
Ardern said some 12,000 border workers in New Zealand would be the first to be vaccinated, followed by their home contacts. Health professionals and high-risk people, such as the elderly, would be next, before vaccinations for the general population begin in the second half of the year.
“We previously bought enough vaccines to cover all New Zealanders and do it for free, and also the Pacific,” she said.
The New Zealand drug regulator is also in talks with AstraZeneca, Novavax and Janssen Biotech over the approval of its COVID-19 vaccines.
(This story corrects the date on Friday for Friday)
Reporting by Praveen Menon in Wellington and Renju Jose in Sydney; Editing by Leslie Adler, Marguerita Choy and Jane Wardell