With the search on for a Covid-19 vaccine for New Zealanders, an expert is warning we need to make sure it's the "right" one.
Professor Graham Le Gros, who heads the Vaccine Alliance Aotearoa New Zealand – Ohu Kaupare Huaketo, told TVNZ1's Breakfast this morning any vaccine needed to be safe and able to be easily manufactured.
But he doesn't think the Russian vaccination for the virus being produced at the moment is safe.
"We can do this in the lab, we can make a Russian vaccine tomorrow and actually put together a combination of viruses, different types of virus," Prof Le Gros said.
"But it's actually just been shoved into a few people, it hasn't been tested across a range of people, a range of responses, it hasn't shown to be effective in a neutralising of the virus or actually protective against infection, nor have they shown can they manufacture it safely.
"There's a whole lot of things that have to be done before you give it to people in the general population.
"I just want to really make sure, we've got to stay in the distance here, stay the distance and make sure we get the right vaccine for our country."
However, Prof Le Gros likened the race for every nation trying to secure a good Covid-19 to "a global bear pit" or "mosh pit".
"Deals are being done, we're all trying to bring in the science and technology and safety aspects to try and find out what's the right one with us and use alliances, flirt with whoever to try and get the right winner here."
In the next two to three months, Prof Le Gros said there would be a lot more information about vaccines being worked on at the moment.
He said some vaccines only stop the disease but not the infection spreading around communities, so what we're after is one that does the whole job.
"The whole job - safety, efficacy, manufacturing safely, that's it. We're going to take a while to get this thing done."
Last week, the Government announced it was putting hundreds of millions of dollars towards accessing a Covid-19 vaccine as soon as it becomes available - but political leaders would not disclose the amount.
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