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Summary
- NZ government has been asked to speed up vaccination rollout plan by the opposition party.
- PM Ardern said advanced purchasing agreements for the doses reached with several companies.
- With a possibility of lockdown 4 in NZ due to the fear of virus strains infecting the community, the government is being urged to look at emergency-use vaccination.
New Zealand Government is being asked to speed up the vaccination rollout plan as it had fallen behind the rest of the world in its vaccination program. Many in New Zealand feel that the government should consider emergency-use vaccine provisions for border workers and those working in managed isolation facilities given the increased risk associated with the new strains of COVID-19.
Must Read: NZ gets a shot in the arm with 10.7M Novavax COVID-19 vaccines
Opposition Party asking for a quick rollout of vaccine
The National Party’s leader Judith Collins said that the government should immediately contemplate the use of vaccines for some sections of population before its too late.
Government, which is planning the largest immunisation rollout said that it was working towards effective and free rollout of the vaccine. It said that it would be the top priority for 2021 but wants to ensure their efficacy and safe usage.
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said the vaccines will be allowed to rollout only after New Zealand Medicines and Medical Devices Safety Authority, MedSafe approves them.
Also Read: New South African Variant of COVID -19 keeps NZ authorities on tenterhooks
PM Ardern says NZ can afford to wait
PM Jacinda Ardern announced that the government had reached advanced purchasing agreements for COVID-19 to cover the entire NZ population.
She disclosed that the Novavax doses will cover 5.36 million people, Astra Zeneca vaccines will cover 3.8 million New Zealanders and 750k courses would be gained from Pfizer/BioNTech.
The prime minister confirmed that that the government was moving a quick pace but is also making sure that the vaccines are safe for use. Ardern said that different countries have a diverse rollout plan according to their needs and the extent of community spread there.
In New Zealand, however, the vaccine will arrive in the first few months of 2021. Also, the numbers of infected cases in the nation are still smaller as compared to other countries.
New Zealand will first testify to its efficacy
It will be brought to be used after testing its effectiveness. The delay seems deliberate as millions of people being vaccinated in other countries will provide data about vaccine’s efficacy and side-effects to New Zealand and other countries, who is delaying its rollout.
When compared to other nations, New Zealand and Australia have both not experienced community spread since November. Therefore, these countries can afford to go in for lots of double checking and reexaminations.
However, with new cases of the UK and the South African variants reported, speed is becoming very important. Some people feel that along with possible Lockdown 4 in New Zealand due to the fear of virus strains infecting the community, the government should also look at emergency-use vaccination.
Did You Read; Lockdown 4 in New Zealand looms large after increased number of COVID-19 variant cases
