Rt Hon Jacinda Ardern
Prime Minister
MP for Mt AlbertHon Chris Hipkins
Minister for COVID-19 Response
The first batch of COVID-19 vaccine arrived in New Zealand this morning, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has confirmed.
The shipment of around 60,000 doses arrived as airfreight at Auckland International Airport at 9.34am today.
“The Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine’s arrival allows us to start New Zealand’s largest-ever immunisation programme,” Jacinda
Ardern said.
“Between now and when the vaccination programme starts, quality assurance, and checks by Medsafe and the pharmaceutical
company will be undertaken.
“We expect to start vaccinating border and MIQ workers in Auckland this Saturday. The more than 30,000 courses will be
more than enough to vaccinate this group of workers over the coming 2-3 weeks.
“Our border workforce such as cleaners, the nurses who undertake health checks in MIQ, security staff, customs and
border officials, airline staff and hotel workers have worked tirelessly to keep all New Zealanders safe and will
rightly be first to receive the vaccine.
“We know they’re most at-risk of coming into contact with the virus and that’s why we’re targeting them first, as it
will also help prevent COVID-19 entering our communities,” Jacinda Ardern said.
COVID-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins said that since arriving this morning, the shipment has had further checks to
confirm it has arrived safely and intact, and has been kept at the correct temperature during its flight here - it must
be stored at -70 degrees Celsius.
“This has been completed and the vaccine has been formally transferred to our ownership and has been transferred to our
new ultra-low temperature storage facility in Auckland,” Chris Hipkins said.
“We’re expecting further shipments of vaccine over coming weeks and will receive about 225,000 vaccine courses by the
end of March.
“As these batches arrive, we’ll vaccinate border workers’ household contacts, then the next group will be many frontline
healthcare and essential workers, plus those most at risk from COVID-19, such as older people or those with medical
conditions that make them vulnerable if infected.
“This is another important step in the roll out of New Zealand’s vaccination programme and our efforts to keep New
Zealanders safe from COVID,” Chris Hipkins said.