South Pacific

The vaccine, jointly developed by Pfizer Inc and Germany’s BioNTech, will be rolled out in the initial weeks while AstraZeneca’s first batch is expected to reach the country in the next two weeks.

Thousands of protesters have turned out to marches across the country against mandatory vaccination before the COVID-19 vaccine rollout begins on Monday.

Vaccine fury has erupted in Melbourne as hundreds of protesters faced off with police in ugly clashes. Two days out from the first Covid vaccinations, there have been flashpoint rallies across the country.

New Zealand officials injected a small group of medical professionals with the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine on Friday, in preparation for a wider rollout over the weekend.

New Zealand has reported 2,330 confirmed and probable cases since the start of the pandemic, including 25 deaths. That compares to under 29,000 cases and 909 deaths in Australia.

The federal government says it has ordered enough of the AstraZeneca vaccine, which will mostly be manufactured in Australia, to cover the country’s population of 25 million people.

Australia last week approved the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine for use for people aged 16 years and older, and expects to begin inoculation at 80,000 doses per week by the end of February.

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said she still expected supplies of the Pfizer-BioNTech product to arrive in the country by end-March, but expressed concern at any attempt to limit exports.

Vaccination of priority groups with the Pfizer vaccine is expected to begin in late February at 80,000 doses per week.

The government of Australia has signed an advanced agreement to purchase 51 million doses of Novavax Inc's experimental COVID-19 vaccine.

Australia

The government plans to complete a mass inoculation programme for its 25 million citizens by the end of this year.

New research has revealed almost a quarter of Australians are not confident in the development of an effective vaccine against COVID-19.

Expensive drugs to treat cancer and other health problems have been added to the PBS which will save patients hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Australia reimburses new blood cancer drug.