New Zealand announced Thursday that it would provide free COVID-19 vaccines to its population of 5 million, plus additional free vaccines to neighboring countries.
The announcement came when government officials also said the country had purchased vaccines from two major developers, AstraZeneca and Novavax, NPR reported.
New Zealand said it would support sending free vaccines to Tokelau, Cook Islands, Niue, Samoa, Tonga and Tuvalu if they so request.
In a statement at a press conference, Prime Minister Jacinda Arden underlined the initiative as the largest immunization payout ever.
“Never before has the entire world tried to vaccinate the entire population at the same time,” said Arden. “This will be a continuous rollout over months rather than weeks, but thanks to our pre-purchase agreements, New Zealand is well positioned to proceed once it has been proven safe.”
New Zealand also has purchase agreements for the vaccines Pfizer-BioNTech and Janssen Pharmaceutica.
The new agreements announced Thursday give the island nation access to 7.6 million doses of AstraZeneca, which will vaccinate 3.8 million people, and 10.72 million doses of Novavax, which is enough for 5.36 million people, said the Government of New Zealand. Both vaccines require two doses to be effective.
“Our approach allows some vaccines to be more suitable for specific population groups or for use in different areas,” explains Arden.
According to The Guardian, New Zealand’s economy recovered in the third quarter of the fiscal year with growth of 14 percent. Stats NZ said on Thursday that September growth was the strongest quarter in the country’s history.
The 14 percent increase followed a 11 percent decline in June.
Treasury Secretary Grant Robertson praised the government’s decision to effectively combat the pandemic, saying, “The response to the global COVID-19 pandemic has contributed to a better-than-expected economic recovery.”
“While New Zealand’s economy contracted in 2020, it is predicted to rebound sharply in 2021. The regions we compare ourselves to, such as the Eurozone, the UK and Japan, ”added the Treasury Secretary.