19 November 2020 – In-principle arrangement to buy 5 million vaccine doses

Type of Intervention: Specific Action
Sectors Involved: Health
Level of Jurisdiction: National
Lead People/Agency: NZ Government
Any vaccine used in NZ must be approved by Medsafe.

Overview: The Government has made an in-principle agreement with Janssen Pharmaceutica to buy up to 5 million COVID-19 vaccine doses.
Full details here: https://covid19.govt.nz/updates-and-resources/latest-updates/government-agrees-in-principle-to-buy-janssen-vaccines/

Type of Justification: Advice of INTERNAL government advisory committee or group, Advice of EXTERNAL expert advisor or advisory committee
Source of Evidence or Justification: National – academic, National – government
Evidence/Justification: From the NZ COVID-19 vaccine strategy:
– supported Vaccine Alliance Aotearoa New Zealand to establish a national development and screening programme for potential COVID-19 vaccines.
– joined the global COVAX Facility
– Medsafe will make sure any vaccine meets internationally agreed criteria for safety, efficacy and quality. This criteria includes data from well-designed clinical trials involving tens of thousands of people.