WELLINGTON (Reuters) – New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said Friday that the country’s COVID-19 inoculation program is likely to begin on February 20, put forward by the earlier receipt of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine than initially was expected.
The pressure on Ardern has increased to begin vaccinations for the country’s 5 million people to take advantage of the rare position in which the virus has been virtually eliminated domestically.
“Last year we indicated the vaccine would arrive in the second quarter, and earlier this year we updated that to the first quarter,” Ardern told reporters. “It is nice to get one dose so early in a quarter.”
Both New Zealand and neighboring Australia have formally approved the vaccine, which was jointly developed by the US drug manufacturer Pfizer Inc and Germany’s BioNTech. Australia has said it expects to start vaccinations by the end of this month, without specifying a specific date.
However, Ardern said the vaccination programs would not have an immediate impact on a stalled trans-Tasman travel bubble. Australia and New Zealand had hoped to enable bilateral travel by the end of March, but new coronavirus outbreaks in Australia have stalled those plans.
Ardern said border restrictions could be relaxed if there is evidence that vaccines reduce transmission.
“That will be a major step forward when we see that evidence emerge and I am sure it will make a difference in traveling the world,” she said. “But it doesn’t necessarily make a difference at this stage.”
Ardern said New Zealand’s roughly 12,000 frontier workers would be the first to be vaccinated, followed by their family contacts. Health workers and those at high risk such as the elderly would be next, before vaccinations for the wider population begin in the second half of the year.
“We pre-purchased enough vaccines to cover and cover all New Zealanders for free, and the Pacific too,” she said.
The New Zealand drug regulator is also in talks with AstraZeneca, Novavax and Janssen Biotech about approving their COVID-19 vaccines.
(This story corrects the date in party to Friday)
Reporting by Praveen Menon in Wellington and Renju Jose in Sydney; Editing by Leslie Adler, Marguerita Choy and Jane Wardell