As vaccine delays threaten to disrupt the Covid-19 response in Europe, attention is turning to whether New Zealand could manufacture one.
Some vaccines, such as AstraZeneca s, have the potential for rapid expansion, an expert says. (file pic)
Photo: AFP
Vaccine Alliance Aotearoa New Zealand clinical director Dr Frances Priddy said investigations into manufacturing here were underway. So we are working with manufacturers to understand which types of Covid vaccines could be manufactured here, and we re making some progress, she said.
Some vaccines would be too difficult to roll out quickly, but Dr Priddy said others had the potential for rapid expansion, including AstraZeneca s.
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We will not be able to put the COVID-19 pandemic behind us until the world’s population is mostly immune through vaccination or previous exposure to the disease.
A truly global vaccination campaign, however, would look very different from what we are seeing now. For example, as of Jan. 20, many more people have been immunized in Israel (with a population less than 10 million) than in Africa and Latin America combined.
Notwithstanding recent questions about the effectiveness of the initial single dose of the vaccine, there is a clear disparity in vaccine rollouts internationally.