The first batch of Pfizer's Covid-19 vaccine arrived in New Zealand this morning, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern confirmed this afternoon.
Sixty-thousand doses of the vaccine arrived on a Singapore Airlines flight from Belgium.
That's enough for 30,000 people as the vaccine is delivered over two doses.
“That’s more than enough doses to vaccinate our frontline workforce over the coming weeks,” Ardern said.
The vaccine roll-out is due to start this weekend. (Source: Other)
The vaccine's rollout is still planned to start on Saturday this weekend.
"As the number of vaccines arrive in the country, we will work our way through a prioritisation list," Covid-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins told Jack Tame on Q+A yesterday.
"That speed of vaccine arrival will mean we move faster or slower depending on exactly what shipments we get."
For the Pfizer vaccine roll-out, medical practices will receive a daily supply of the jab to prevent a bottleneck from forming when each dose has a limited expiry, Hipkins said. The Pfizer vaccine has five days of viability after it's removed from extremely low temperatures.
Health officials are developing a national vaccine database that can say if someone has had a jab, when they had it and how many further doses may be required.
People will be able to log in and get their own vaccine information to make sure they stay up to date if they need more than one dose, as with Pfizer's vaccine.
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