WELLINGTON, Nov. 10 (Xinhua) -- News from Pfizer and BioNTech that they have had promising results from COVID-19 clinical trials of a vaccine is encouraging, which makes it possible that some doses will be available to New Zealand in the first part of 2021, said an official on Tuesday.

Minister for Research, Science and Innovation Megan Woods made the remarks following the news that Pfizer and BioNTech report success in their COVID-19 vaccine study.

In October, the New Zealand government signed an agreement to purchase 1.5 million COVID-19 vaccines, enough for 750,000 people, from Pfizer and BioNTech, subject to the vaccine successfully completing all clinical trials and passing regulatory approvals in New Zealand.

"As part of the agreement, vaccine delivery to New Zealand could be as early as the first quarter of 2021. Provided the vaccine is approved for use in New Zealand by Medsafe, it is possible that some doses will be available to us in the first part of 2021," Woods said in a statement.

Medsafe, the New Zealand Medicines and Medical Devices Safety Authority, is the medical regulatory body run by the country's Health Ministry.

"Medsafe is working to optimize its processes so that any promising vaccines will be fully assessed as quickly as possible against the same criteria used for all other medicines that enter New Zealand," Woods said. Enditem

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