Moscow, Nov 19 (Sputnik) New Zealand has concluded an in-principle agreement with Belgian Janssen Pharmaceutica on the supply of up to five million doses of its vaccine against COVID-19, provided the vaccine passes necessary clinical trials and is approved by the authorities, Research, Science and Innovation Minister Megan Woods said on Thursday.
According to the minister, the agreement is a part of an effort to ensure that the government has a variety of options to choose from.
“The agreement with Janssen would see the first doses – up to 2 million – delivered from the third quarter of 2021. We have the option to purchase up to 3 million additional doses, which would be delivered throughout 2022,” Woods said in a statement.
She stressed that it was an initial agreement but said the government expected to finalize a formal advance purchase agreement soon.
In October, New Zealand signed a deal with Pfizer and BioNTech for 1.5 million doses.
