MORE VACCINES
WELLINGTON: Associate Health Minister Ayesha Verrall says a new shipment of Pfizer vaccine will enable health authorities to maintain a high vaccination rate.
Earlier yesterday, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced the Government was negotiating a deal that would see New Zealand secure additional Pfizer doses.
‘‘As a result of these efforts we are now finalising arrangements that secure additional supply in September. This will enable us to maintain our extraordinary vaccination rates throughout September until our bulk deliveries land in October,’’ Ms Ardern said.
‘‘We are still waiting for final contracts to be signed so I cannot confirm specific countries or details on quantities. They are, however, Pfizer doses and we will share further information as soon as we are able.’’
Dr Verrall said yesterday the Government had been worried it would have to slow down the vaccine rollout but the delivery gave confidence to health authorities that current vaccination rates could be maintained.
Although the Government was not yet able to confirm the delivery date of the order due to contractual requirements, Dr Verrall said the shipment would be arriving on time to ensure continuity of the vaccine rollout.
‘‘We have a shortterm issue that we’ve been working around the clock to try and address and yes the timing is relatively tight,’’ she said.
‘‘This is an issue which has really been prompted by the very high level of vaccination we were able to achieve at
Alert Level 4 which we weren’t achieving prior to this outbreak and being in Alert Level 4.’’
Although the need for additional vaccine had been exacerbated by the high vaccination rates during lockdown, Dr Verrall said the Government already had plans to secure another shipment around this time.
‘‘We always had a plan to vaccinate New Zealanders throughout this year and we had a known period where we knew supply would be tight in September.’’
Auckland will remain in Level 4 until September 14 at the earliest and there would be much to consider when the Government decided whether to extend the lockdown even further, she said.
‘‘There’s a lot of things we take into account [about] the alert levels . . . certainly case numbers but as case numbers get low small events make a big differences to the numbers so they do bounce around a bit.
‘‘I think we can all agree that this week in Auckland is a lot better than last week and the week before in Auckland in terms of the outbreak’s control.’’
She noted the majority of Auckland’s cases over the last week have been linked to existing cases and those mystery cases are decreasing as the public health unit investigates.
As the Government considered alert level changes, there would be a particular focus on recent unlinked cases as they posed greater risks than those who might have been exposed before the city moved to Level 4, Dr Verrall said.
Increasing testing would also be an important factor in determining whether the city was ready to move down the alert levels.
‘‘I think we really do need to drive up that testing because that’s what gives you the assurance that you’ve detected the cases that are out there.
‘‘We have looked at the community testing sites . . . where we are concerned there might be a risk of transmission.’’
Dr Verrall said it was vital testing rates increased for critical populations, such as essential workers crossing the Auckland border, health workers and MIQ staff. — RNZ