Without wading into this debate too deeply, overall the main Western vaccines are relatively close to each other in terms of efficacy and safety. I am not including Sputnik or Sinovac in here.
Yes there are a lot of anecdotes and some genuine cases of side effects including some deaths after vaccinations. However, if you look at the big picture, they are all very safe overall. And yet, for some reason, some people expect more guaranteed safety from something that prevents deaths or serious health problems, than from something like say driving a car on a main highway (higher death rate per million, apparently, than death rate from a mainstream Covid-19 vaccine).
We do not manufacture our own here in NZ (although Vaccine Alliance, sensibly, is hoping to do that), and we do not manufacture someone else's vaccine under licence (which Australia does). That leaves at the mercy of supply channels and at the mercy of Govt wheeling and dealing "what to buy at what price and when". It is harder to coordinate vaccinations with more than one vaccine if they have different storage rules, shelf life after defrosting, and interval betwee n two jabs.
Yes we were slow to roll out the vaccinations when they first started late last year / early this year. However, the pace has picked up. The recent purchase of oversupply of Pfizer stock from Denmark and from Spain (which would otherwise expire relatively soon, in a matter of some months) was sensible as it was probably at a decent price and it would not be used up in these countries in time.
More long term data becomes available, and that is how we know that there is a a dropoff in antibody levels after about six months following Pfizer vaccination, while the dropoff after similar vaccines like that by Moderna is much less noticeable. But Moderna (although trialled at the same time as Pfizer and Astra Zeneca) took much longer to get manufactured on a large scale. People vaccinated with Moderna may not need a booster as early as those jabbed with Pfizer or with Astra-Zeneca. And yes it makes sense to use a different vaccine for a booster than the original vaccine, but even a single booster with Pfizer is better than none, although not everyone may need it (and different countries adopt different policies for boosters even after examining the same global data). I am in general happy to wait for arrival of a different vaccine in NZ after we vaccinated most of our population with one type of a vaccine.
All of this paints a picture where we will continue here in NZ being cautious with the borders, will quarantine arrivals, and keep vaccinating locals (or visitors) until we have a very high general coverage before our life looks different than now.
Personally, I am less worried about getting a mild case of Covid after being well-vaccinated, than I am worried about people getting long Covid syndrome if they are not vaccinated and get infected / fall ill. I have enough colleagues in the USA and in continental Europe who all know someone who has long Covid and struggles with the consequences. Personal lives, professional lives, all being affected long term although they have recovered.
Yes there are a lot of anecdotes and some genuine cases of side effects including some deaths after vaccinations. However, if you look at the big picture, they are all very safe overall. And yet, for some reason, some people expect more guaranteed safety from something that prevents deaths or serious health problems, than from something like say driving a car on a main highway (higher death rate per million, apparently, than death rate from a mainstream Covid-19 vaccine).
We do not manufacture our own here in NZ (although Vaccine Alliance, sensibly, is hoping to do that), and we do not manufacture someone else's vaccine under licence (which Australia does). That leaves at the mercy of supply channels and at the mercy of Govt wheeling and dealing "what to buy at what price and when". It is harder to coordinate vaccinations with more than one vaccine if they have different storage rules, shelf life after defrosting, and interval betwee n two jabs.
Yes we were slow to roll out the vaccinations when they first started late last year / early this year. However, the pace has picked up. The recent purchase of oversupply of Pfizer stock from Denmark and from Spain (which would otherwise expire relatively soon, in a matter of some months) was sensible as it was probably at a decent price and it would not be used up in these countries in time.
More long term data becomes available, and that is how we know that there is a a dropoff in antibody levels after about six months following Pfizer vaccination, while the dropoff after similar vaccines like that by Moderna is much less noticeable. But Moderna (although trialled at the same time as Pfizer and Astra Zeneca) took much longer to get manufactured on a large scale. People vaccinated with Moderna may not need a booster as early as those jabbed with Pfizer or with Astra-Zeneca. And yes it makes sense to use a different vaccine for a booster than the original vaccine, but even a single booster with Pfizer is better than none, although not everyone may need it (and different countries adopt different policies for boosters even after examining the same global data). I am in general happy to wait for arrival of a different vaccine in NZ after we vaccinated most of our population with one type of a vaccine.
All of this paints a picture where we will continue here in NZ being cautious with the borders, will quarantine arrivals, and keep vaccinating locals (or visitors) until we have a very high general coverage before our life looks different than now.
Personally, I am less worried about getting a mild case of Covid after being well-vaccinated, than I am worried about people getting long Covid syndrome if they are not vaccinated and get infected / fall ill. I have enough colleagues in the USA and in continental Europe who all know someone who has long Covid and struggles with the consequences. Personal lives, professional lives, all being affected long term although they have recovered.