Covid 19 coronavirus: when can you get vaccinated? Chris Hipkins and Ashley Bloomfield update priority groups

The government is ready to announce who will be the next kiwis to be offered the vaccine when it reveals the priority groups.

Covid-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins and Chief Health Officer Ashley Bloomfield will announce the order of the vaccination campaign, known as vaccine sequencing, at a press conference at 1:00 p.m.

Hipkins announced Monday that the government had negotiated another buy-and-sell agreement with Pfizer to secure an additional 8.5 million doses, enough to fully vaccinate all New Zealanders with two injections.

The Pfizer vaccine has been shown to be 95% effective.

He said that inoculating all New Zealanders with the same vaccine would speed up the process even though it must be kept at -70 ° C.

Health officials are now working with Pfizer on a delivery schedule, but Hipkins said implementation will begin “in the middle of this year.”

He also said that the government is working on options for vaccines that are not needed in New Zealand.

“We are working on options to donate surplus doses across our broader portfolio to the Pacific and developing countries around the world.”

Hipkins said the government wanted to make sure doses not needed here were used well elsewhere.

That could mean delaying delivery to New Zealand, in order to free up supply for other countries in the short term, or donating replacement vaccines to other countries, Hipkins said.

“We are also working closely with the countries of the Kingdom of Niue, Tokelau, and the Cook Islands, as well as our close neighbors Samoa, Tonga, and Tuvalu to provide access to our vaccine portfolio and provide broader support for the launch of vaccines”.