New Zealand approved the AstraZeneca vaccine against covid-19 for people 18 years of age or older, which will serve as an alternative in the immunization, which relies mainly on the administration of Pfizer doses, reported this Thursday, July 28, 2021 the government.
This is the third vaccine which receives the provisional go-ahead from the New Zealand pharmaceutical regulator MEDSAFE (acronym in English), after Janssen Y Pfizer.
“We are in a fortunate position to have provisional approval (of vaccines). The Cabinet will still have to consider whether the AstraZeneca vaccine is distributed in New Zealand, ”Acting Minister of COVID-19 Response Ayesha Verrall said in a statement.
The prime minister’s government Jacinda Ardern acquired 7.6 million doses of AstraZeneca in advance last year, which would serve to immunize 3.8 million people, especially as part of the cooperation plan in the Pacific region where Fiji has been experiencing a severe crisis since last April health by covid-19.
New Zealand began its immunization campaign on February 20 with the inoculation of the doses of Pfizer to the workers of border posts and centers of quarantine, followed by those in the health sector and contagion risk jobs, as well as vulnerable people.
To date, the authorities have administered more than 1.7 million dose against covid-19, which includes some 700,000 with the full guideline, and, as of July 28, began with the bulk of its almost 5 million inhabitants, according to the age-segmented program that must conclude before the end of the year.
New Zealand, whose management against the pandemic has been considered the best in the world, accumulates since the pandemic began a total of 2 508 confirmed cases of covid-19, and 26 deceased, as well as 403 active infections, all of them in quarantine centers for Travellers.
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