New Zealand has agreements with four suppliers for COVID-19 vaccines Pfizer/BioNTech, AstraZeneca, Janssen Pharmaceutica, and Novavax. We've also bought enough vaccines for those in the Cook Islands, Niue, Tokelau, Sāmoa, Tonga, and Tuvalu.
Last updated: 1 August 2022
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Pfizer/BioNTech
The Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine (also called Comirnaty) is New Zealand’s primary COVID-19 vaccine.
Pfizer is an mRNA vaccine which requires two doses at least three weeks apart.
Medsafe has granted provisional approval of the adult Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine for people over the age of 12, and the paediatric (child) formulation of the Pfizer vaccine for ages 5 to 11.
The adult dose can be stored at -70C for up to 9 months and at normal fridge (2C to 8C) temperature for 31 days, and the paediatric vaccine can be stored at -70C for up to 6 months and at normal fridge temperature for up to 10 weeks.
Our current purchase agreements with Pfizer include enough doses to vaccinate everyone in New Zealand. This includes booster doses and paediatric doses for ages 5 to 11.
First COVID-19 vaccine purchase agreement signed
Government purchases enough Pfizer vaccines for whole country
AstraZeneca
We have an agreement to purchase 7.6 million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine.
AstraZeneca is a two-dose viral vector vaccine which can be stored at normal fridge temperatures (2C to 8C) for up to 6 months.
Medsafe has granted provisional approval of the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine for individuals age 18 years of age and older.
AstraZeneca will no longer be available in New Zealand from 5 September 2022.
Novavax
An agreement has been made with Novavax to purchase 10.72 million doses of a COVID-19 vaccine. Novavax is a two-dose protein subunit vaccine.
Medsafe has granted provisional approval of the Novavax COVID-19 vaccine for individuals age 18 years of age and older.
Janssen Pharmaceutica
New Zealand secured 2 million doses of the Janssen vaccine through an advance purchase agreement in 2020.
Janssen is a single-dose viral vector vaccine. It can be stored at normal fridge temperatures (2C to 8C) for up to 3 months and in deep freezers (-20C to -15C) for up to two years.
Medsafe has granted provisional approval of the Janssen vaccine for primary courses and boosters, but no decisions have been made about using the Janssen vaccine in New Zealand.