A medical employee administers a COVID-19 check at a testing clinic throughout a lockdown to curb the unfold of a coronavirus illness (COVID-19) outbreak in Auckland, New Zealand, August 26, 2021. REUTERS/Fiona Goodall
CANBERRA, Sept 12 (Reuters) – New Zealand has bought 500,000 doses of Pfizer’s (PFE.N) COVID-19 vaccine from Denmark, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern mentioned on Sunday, because the nation struggles with a cluster of infections in its largest metropolis.
New Zealand, which reported 20 domestically acquired COVID-19 circumstances in Auckland on Sunday, mentioned the vaccines will arrive inside days. The most recent outbreak now totals 599 infections for the reason that first case was detected in late August.
“There’s now greater than sufficient vaccine within the nation to vaccinate on the world main charges we had been hitting earlier within the month, and I strongly encourage each New Zealander not but vaccinated to take action as quickly as potential,” Ardern mentioned in an e-mailed assertion.
New Zealand, which till final month had largely reined in COVID-19, has struggled to stamp out the final cluster regardless of a weeks-long lockdown of Auckland.
About 1.7 million folks in Auckland stay in a strict degree 4 lockdown however curbs have been eased in the remainder of the nation.
A few third of New Zealand’s 5.1 million folks have been totally vaccinated, one of many slowest paces among the many rich nations of the Organisation for Financial Cooperation and Growth grouping.
Reporting by Colin Packham; Modifying by Raju Gopalakrishnan
Our Requirements: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
