Onerahi doctors and medical centre

The New Zealand government has a plan to provide a free COVID-19 vaccine to protect everyone in New Zealand. People at greater risk will get the vaccine first.

If you’re 16 or over, answer these questions to find out when you can get a vaccine. Your result will tell you which group you’re probably in — Group 1, 2, 3, or 4 — depending on your age and situation.

These dates are estimates — the actual start times will depend on when vaccines are delivered. Changes may also happen if we get new information that affects how the rollout will work.

The New Zealand government is committed to putting in place the right systems and services, so it’s easy and convenient to get a COVID-19 vaccine. They will offer different options to make getting a vaccine as easy as possible. These include:

• pop-up centres
• GPs
• Māori and Pacific providers
• mobile clinics
• community clinics.

At this stage, we are unsure of the logistics of providing the COVID-19 vaccine at our clinic and it is likely you will receive your two doses at a pop-up centre.

Clinical trial data from the pharmaceutical company indicates that Comirnaty has been up to 95% effective in trial participants.

As with any vaccine, Comirnaty may not fully protect everyone who gets it. We don’t yet know how long you’ll be protected for, or if it will stop you from catching and passing on the virus.

The Ministry of Health is looking at data from other countries about the impact new strains may have on how effective the vaccines are.

The Pfizer vaccine will not give you COVID-19. There is also no possibility it could affect your DNA/genes.

In New Zealand, applications for all new medicines (including vaccines) are assessed by the New Zealand Medicines and Medical Devices Safety Authority (Medsafe).

Medsafe is responsible for regulating all medicines and medical devices in New Zealand. They are part of the Ministry of Health.

Medsafe will only approve a vaccine for use in New Zealand once they are confident it complies with international standards and local requirements for quality, safety and efficacy.

There is no ‘emergency use authorisation’ in New Zealand.

As data to support the longer-term safety and effectiveness of COVID-19 vaccines is not yet available, any approvals are likely to be provisional. This means there may be restrictions on how the vaccine can be used and who it can be offered to.

If a vaccine is granted provisional approval, pharmaceutical companies must provide more information (from clinical trials, for example) as it becomes available.