New Zealand offers free COVID-19 vaccines to neighboring countries

New Zealand announced Thursday that it will provide free COVID-19 vaccines to its population of 5 million, as well as additional free vaccines to neighboring countries.

The announcement came as government officials also said the country had purchased vaccines from two major developers, AstraZeneca and Novavax, NPR reported.

New Zealand said it will support sending free vaccines to Tokelau, the Cook Islands, Niue, Samoa, Tonga and Tuvalu if they request it.

In a statement at a press conference, Prime Minister Jacinda Arden stressed that the initiative was the largest cash disbursement ever made for immunization.

“Never before has the whole world sought to vaccinate the entire population at the same time,” Arden said. “It will be a sustained rollout over months, not weeks, but our pre-purchase agreements mean New Zealand is in a good position to do it as soon as it is safe.”

New Zealand has also entered into purchase agreements for the Pfizer-BioNTech and Janssen Pharmaceutica vaccines.

The new deals announced on Thursday allow the island nation to access 7.6 million doses of AstraZeneca, which will vaccinate 3.8 million people, and 10.72 million doses of Novavax, which is enough for 5.36 million people, the New Zealand government said. Both vaccines require two doses to be effective.

“Our approach allows certain vaccines to be more suitable for certain population groups or to be deployed in different areas,” Arden explained.

According to The Guardian, New Zealand’s economy rebounded in the third quarter of the fiscal year, growing 14%. Stats NZ said on Thursday that growth in September was the strongest quarter in the country’s history.

The 14% increase follows an 11% drop in June.

Finance Minister Grant Robertson hailed the government’s decision to effectively tackle the pandemic, saying “the response to the global COVID-19 pandemic has contributed to a better-than-expected economic recovery.”

“While the New Zealand economy contracted in 2020, it is expected to rebound strongly in 2021, outperforming regions we compare ourselves to such as the euro area, the United Kingdom and Japan,” added the finance minister .