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Mark Lennihan / AP
A total of 7.6 million doses will come from AstraZeneca, enough for 3.8 million people and 10.72 million doses of Novavax, enough for 5.36 million people. Both vaccines require the administration of two doses.
This story was originally published on RNZ.co.nz and republished with permission.
The fact that the government makes a deal to buy two more brands of Covid-19 vaccines is proof of good progress, says a clinical microbiologist.
University of Otago professor David Murdoch is a clinical microbiologist who was consulted for the Covid-19 Technical Advisory Group of the Ministry of Health and WHO.
He said Nine at noon the announcement of the new vaccines showed good progress.
“This is a very complex program that has been established, the largest of all vaccines for the country.
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RNZ
The government has reached an agreement to buy two more brands of Covid-19 vaccines, bringing the total to four.
So it’s interesting to see the additional detail, really filling in some gaps. We now have four vaccines in the portfolio that are different; have different technologies; there is a number greater than the population. There are some options if some are unsuccessful. “
A total of 7.6 million doses will come from AstraZeneca, enough for 3.8 million people and 10.72 million doses of Novavax, enough for 5.36 million people. Both vaccines require the administration of two doses.
The government already has pre-purchase agreements for 750,000 courses from Pfizer / BioNTech and 5 million from Janssen.
University of Otago
University of Otago professor David Murdoch is a clinical microbiologist who was consulted for the Covid-19 Technical Advisory Group of the Ministry of Health and WHO.
Murdoch said it was a balanced portfolio and the timeline for it to be available in mid-2021 wasn’t too bad.
He reiterated the advice of the World Health Organization that higher income countries should go through their Covax Facility to ensure equity for all countries.
He said the Pfizer vaccine would be “more challenging” logistically because it needed to be stored at -70 ° C; the other vaccines can be stored at normal refrigerator temperatures.
“The freezers have been bought … if they are strategically located, that can be overcome.”
“The big challenge, of course, is scale.”
He said that it would be necessary for there to be several vaccinators on the ground.
This story was originally published on RNZ.co.nz and republished with permission.
