The Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine takes centerstage as New Zealand starts is vaccination program today, while Australia will conduct its own inoculation on Monday.
Both countries have been largely successful in its COVID-19 containment strategies yet it will leave no stone unturned in their respective vaccination programs in tackling the virus.
The bigger vaccine rollout activity in New Zealand was preceded by injecting a small group of medical professionals on Friday in Auckland.
Border staff and workers of NZ’s Managed Isolation and Quarantine (MIQ) workers are among those who will take the vaccine jab today, in what is deemed as the nation’s largest immunization program in its history.
New Zealand said it will be able to vaccinate about 5 million within a year.
In Australia, on the other hand, its hotel quarantine and healthcare frontliners will be prioritized in the vaccination, to be conducted in about 16 Pfizer vaccination centers nationwide.
Senior-age Australians at facilities for the elderly will also receive the vaccines.
In Australia, hotel quarantine and healthcare workers will also be the first cohort to be inoculated at 16 Pfizer vaccination hubs across the nation, alongside older Australians at aged care facilities.
The country is looking at finishing inoculating 25 million people by October this year.
New Zealand and Australia are in the Top 10 global COVID-19 performance index when it comes to successfully implementing strategies to contain the pandemic.