2. Question No. 2—Prime MinisterHon JUDITH COLLINS (Leader—National) to the Prime MinisterQuestion No. 2—Prime Minister2. Hon JUDITH COLLINS (Leader—National) to the Prime Minister: Does she believe that New Zealand should aim to get access to safe and effective COVID-19 vaccines as early as possible?Rt Hon JACINDA ARDERN (Prime Minister): Yes.Hon Judith Collins: Was it misleading for her Ministers to tell New Zealanders that we would be at the front of the queue" for vaccines?Rt Hon JACINDA ARDERN: No.Hon Judith Collins: When will New Zealand's healthcare and border workers receive their COVID-19 vaccinations?Rt Hon JACINDA ARDERN: We've indicated our expectation that the arrival of our first Pfizer vaccines will be in the first quarter and we expect within a two to three week period to be able to vaccinate our border workforce.Hon Judith Collins: When will a detailed immunisation plan be released?Rt Hon JACINDA ARDERN: We have already provided our vaccine strategy. Given that we currently do not have community transmission in New Zealand we have prioritised those who are at the greatest risk and they happen to be those who work at our border. Unlike other countries who have had to prioritise—and rightly so—those most vulnerable their elderly their healthcare workers New Zealand is in the very privileged position to be instead making sure that we are protecting our cleaners our health workforce in our managed isolation and quarantine (MIQ) our customs and immigration workers everyone who is part of our current testing regime is front of the queue for vaccines as soon as they arrive.Hon Judith Collins: Is there a detailed plan or is there just a strategy?Rt Hon JACINDA ARDERN: Of course there is a plan. It is a significant logistical exercise. When you have a vaccine that requires cool chain supply at -70 degrees you have to have a plan for distribution across the country but of course we have the advantage of already having these staff members on a weekly rota for testing and that will support our vaccination programme.Hon Judith Collins: What advice has she received on a vaccine passport system similar to that of Australia and will she release it?Rt Hon JACINDA ARDERN: Actually much of the work in that area is being developed at an international level and I have received copies of advice provided to the Minister of Transport around developments of that regime. As you can imagine as an international community we're looking for a recognisable system that acknowledges no matter which border you're crossing those vaccines that are considered to be sufficient to move and travel safely. So New Zealand is keeping in close touch with the international community on that.David Seymour: Would the Prime Minister characterise documents signed between the Government and companies supplying the vaccines as contracts or agreements?Rt Hon JACINDA ARDERN: The official titles for them not just in New Zealand but abroad has been advance purchase agreements. Of course we then go through our own process to make sure that we are giving regulatory approval for their use. So those are arrangements where we're essentially committing to buy they have to fulfil a number of obligations we then have obligations on us as to if we accept how much is purchased and paid for etc. A very important point that I'll make to both members in this line of questioning: for us to sufficiently protect New Zealand we need good high uptake of vaccines. We have to have the confidence of New Zealanders and that means making sure that we go through our own regulatory process. Some countries that are rolling out rolled out before clinical trials were complete. That was because people were dying. That is not happening in New Zealand we are balancing timeliness with security to New Zealanders—that they are safe.Hon Judith Collins: In that case then why did her Government tell New Zealanders last year that they were at the front of the queue?Rt Hon JACINDA ARDERN: Because in terms of our purchasing we have been very quick to ensure that we have access to four vaccines. And I would suggest to the member that actually talking to New Zealanders about what they want to see in our vaccine strategy which is an assurance that it is safe is incredibly important as is timeliness. The second thing that I would suggest the member look at is the profile of the vast majority of countries who are currently rolling out vaccines often under emergency approval and I correct the member—Australia is not rolling out their vaccine they have not received it."