NEW ZEALAND APPROVES PFIZER/BIOENTECH AS FIRST COVID VACCINE

New Zealand's medical regulator Medsafe has approved use of the country's first coronavirus vaccine, paving the way for vaccinations to begin from April.

Medsafe had provisionally approved the vaccine developed by US-German venture Pfizer/BioNTech, Director General of Health Ashley Bloomfield said in a statement on Wednesday.

"Vaccination is a key next step in our ongoing response to this virus," he said. "There is more work to do, we are not out of the woods yet, but the provisional approval of the Pfizer and BioNTech vaccine is a significant milestone."

Medsafe needed to be assured the vaccine would be safe and effective for use in a New Zealand setting, and that it was of a high quality, Medsafe group manager Chris James said in a statement.

The regulator had placed 58 conditions on the approval for the vaccine, James said. Of those, 52 related to requiring additional manufacturing data from the company.

The remaining conditions ensure additional clinical information, such as regular updates from clinical trials and safety concerns from around the world, are received.

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