Covid 19 coronavirus: Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern says vaccine likely in March

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern says the schedule for vaccination against Covid-19 in New Zealand looked like a March date, but that not everyone would receive a vaccine at the same time.

He said the details of the calendar would be done by the end of the month.

“At this point, our expectation that we’ve been running to is closer to the March date,” Ardern said.

But he cautioned that not everyone would get the vaccine at the same time and that the delivery schedule was far from set in stone.

Ardern was at Newstalk ZB with Mike Hosking this morning talking about important steps in climate change, as well as opening the borders to additional workers in the coming summer months during the Covid pandemic.

LISTEN LIVE: Jacinda Ardern joins Mike Hosking at 7.05am

Ardern said he had spoken with German and French leaders about the different dates they expect vaccines to arrive in their countries.

“There has been speculation around December about some countries that will get vaccines, some claim it will be later in January, so right now, while they are still in clinical trials, there is still some ambiguity.”

Ardern said he would make an announcement on the vaccine arrangements before the end of the year, detailing the schedule and what everyone could expect because it would not happen “in one go.”

So far two vaccines have been announced for New Zealand: Pfizer and Janssen.

The Pzifer product could be in the country in March and is a two-dose vaccine that would cover 750,000 people.

Janssen’s requires just one injection, but it wouldn’t come until closer to September 2021, with two million starting doses and more if needed.

Meanwhile, Ardern said this morning that an announcement of a possible travel bubble between New Zealand and the Cook Islands was still in the works. She would not be drawn on a timeline.

He said New Zealand’s climate emergency would be declared this week.

“This is the first chance we have with parliament back.”

Ardern will present the motion in person in Parliament tomorrow. She said it had been requested for some time, but a statement in Parliament does not have the same effect as the power granted in a civil defense emergency.

“However, we are very much of the opinion that we must make sure that we are sending very clear messages to the public service and also abroad about what our expectations are of the work that needs to be done.

“This is an issue where if we don’t have mitigation and adaptation running at the same pace, people, for example, lose their homes and assets that are valuable to us as taxpayers are compromised.

“There are very real effects of our not taking action on this issue that are similar to what becomes a civil defense emergency.”

Last week, Ardern said that Labor had always viewed climate change as “a major threat to our region.”

It was something that needed to be addressed immediately, he said.

This morning he denied that the move was a “symbolism of awakening” and said it was important to take this step.

He said that if the government didn’t do something, people would lose their homes and their assets would be destroyed, and the impact of climate change on our environment would turn into something like a civil state of emergency.

Meanwhile, it was revealed on Friday that the government would let in 2,000 workers from the Pacific early next year to collect fruit for the horticulture and wine industries.

His arrival is expected to fill a huge gap in the workforce and avoid what many producers have been calling a crisis.

But there are government conditions for the deal.

Employers will have to pay workers a living wage of $ 22.10 an hour, pay them 30 hours a week while in managed isolation for 14 days, and cover their isolation costs, estimated at $ 4,472 per worker.

It also emerged last week that the evidence provided by ministers and heads of the public sector to the Royal Commission of Inquiry into the Christchurch terror attack will be suppressed for 30 years.

And an interview with the Australian-born terrorist will never be published for fear that it could inspire and aid more attacks.

The investigation report was delivered yesterday to the Minister of Internal Affairs, Jan Tinetti, and will be released publicly on December 8, after being shared for the first time with the families of the victims and the leaders of political parties.

It will detail any failures by police, spies and other government agencies in the run-up to and after the mosque shootings on March 15, 2019, in which 51 people were killed.

In a last minute issued on Friday, Commissioners Sir William Young and Jacqui Caine said that tests and presentations by current and former public sector CEOs and ministers will be subject to non-publication orders for 30 years.

This morning’s prime minister was not drawn to the issue and said she would wait for the report’s findings to be released before making any comments.

Ardern was reading the 800-page report and hoped to finish it before its public release.

He declined to comment on the 30-year suppression order on the evidence, saying it was a decision for the commission to make.

“People will have no illusions about what they think of that evidence even though they will not be able to identify individual public servants, for example,” he said.

“Obviously, in terms of the responsibility that we have now, the person who has the main responsibility for this event in prison for the rest of his life.

“This is now, and going back to what we asked the Royal Commission, was there anything that public agencies could or should have done that could have prevented it and on December 8 everyone will be able to see those conclusions,” he added. Ardern said.