New Zealand administers 2 million COVID-19 vaccines
Aug 04, 2021
Wellington [New Zealand], August 4 (ANI/Xinhua): New Zealand saw another milestone in administering COVID-19 vaccines on Wednesday, with two million COVID-19 vaccines being given to Kiwis.
The pandemic is not coming to an end and it is important to keep the virus, particularly the Delta variant, out of the country, COVID-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins told a press conference.
The 2,000,000th dose of the Pfizer vaccine was administered in New Zealand on Tuesday, the minister said.
"Every extra MIQ (managed isolation and quarantine) space we open up increases risk. We already bring in 4,000 people, the population of a small New Zealand town every fortnight. We bring in around three times more people per capita than Australia does," Hipkins said.
Vaccines will open for people aged above 55 years old on Friday, five days ahead of schedule, he said, citing increased capacity in local health authorities.
"People in this age group who haven't already been vaccinated can expect to get invitations or go to book their vaccine from Friday," Hipkins said.
People in New Zealand who wants to be vaccinated can be done by the end of this year, according to Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern. (ANI/Xinhua)