Government agrees in principle to buy Janssen vaccines

The Government has made an in-principle agreement with Janssen Pharmaceutica to buy up to 5 million COVID-19 vaccine doses.

The agreement with Janssen is for up to 2 million vaccine doses from July 2021. There is also an option to buy up to 3 million more doses that will be delivered throughout 2022. The Janssen vaccine is likely to be a single dose, which may be more efficient to administer than other vaccine options.

Janssen and its parent company Johnson & Johnson have a very strong history of producing safe and effective pharmaceutical products, giving us confidence they will develop, manufacture and deliver a safe and effective vaccine.

We are working to make sure that extra agreements are in place to complete the vaccine portfolio. Our main priority is to make sure every New Zealander has access to safe and effective vaccines. Any COVID-19 vaccine used in Aotearoa must be approved by Medsafe.

Safety will always be the priority — Medsafe will make sure any vaccine meets internationally agreed criteria for safety, efficacy and quality. This criteria includes data from well-designed clinical trials involving tens of thousands of people.