ℙ𝕗𝕚𝕫𝕖𝕣 𝕤𝕙𝕦𝕥𝕤 𝕕𝕠𝕨𝕟 𝕠𝕦𝕣 𝕣𝕦𝕟 𝕒𝕨𝕒𝕪 𝕖𝕩 ℙ𝕄 𝕂𝕖𝕪'𝕤 𝕔𝕝𝕒𝕚𝕞 𝔾𝕠𝕧𝕖𝕣𝕟𝕞𝕖𝕟𝕥 𝕔𝕠𝕦𝕝𝕕 𝕙𝕒𝕧𝕖 𝕓𝕠𝕦𝕘𝕙𝕥 𝕧𝕒𝕔𝕔𝕚𝕟𝕖𝕤 𝕖𝕒𝕣𝕝𝕚𝕖𝕣 '𝕗𝕠𝕣 $𝟜𝟘 𝕞𝕚𝕝𝕝𝕚𝕠𝕟 𝕞𝕠𝕣𝕖'

𝔾𝕝𝕠𝕓𝕒𝕝 𝕡𝕙𝕒𝕣𝕞𝕒𝕔𝕖𝕦𝕥𝕚𝕔𝕒𝕝 𝕘𝕚𝕒𝕟𝕥 ℙ𝕗𝕚𝕫𝕖𝕣, 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕔𝕠𝕞𝕡𝕒𝕟𝕪 𝕓𝕖𝕙𝕚𝕟𝕕 𝕥𝕙𝕖 ℂ𝕆𝕍𝕀𝔻-𝟙𝟡 𝕧𝕒𝕔𝕔𝕚𝕟𝕖 𝕓𝕖𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕦𝕤𝕖𝕕 𝕚𝕟 ℕ𝕖𝕨 ℤ𝕖𝕒𝕝𝕒𝕟𝕕, 𝕚𝕤 𝕤𝕙𝕦𝕥𝕥𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕠𝕦𝕣 𝕣𝕦𝕟 𝕒𝕨𝕒𝕪 𝕡𝕠𝕟𝕪-𝕥𝕒𝕚𝕝 𝕡𝕦𝕝𝕝𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕡𝕖𝕣𝕧𝕖𝕣𝕥 𝕖𝕩 ℙ𝕄 𝕂𝕖𝕪 𝕒𝕗𝕥𝕖𝕣 𝕙𝕖 𝕤𝕦𝕘𝕘𝕖𝕤𝕥𝕖𝕕 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝔾𝕠𝕧𝕖𝕣𝕟𝕞𝕖𝕟𝕥 𝕔𝕠𝕦𝕝𝕕 𝕙𝕒𝕧𝕖 𝕡𝕒𝕚𝕕 𝕞𝕠𝕣𝕖 𝕥𝕠 𝕙𝕒𝕧𝕖 𝕖𝕒𝕣𝕝𝕚𝕖𝕣 𝕒𝕔𝕔𝕖𝕤𝕤 𝕥𝕠 𝕛𝕒𝕓𝕤.

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fizer has since said it hasn't done that for any Government in the world.

It comes after former Prime Minister Sir John wrote a column published on Sunday describing New Zealand as a "smug hermit kingdom" because of the Government's COVID-19 response. 

In follow-up interviews on Monday, Sir John doubled down on his criticism - saying New Zealanders needed a plan for beyond COVID-19. 

Sir John on The AM Show claimed a Government failure to buy COVID-19 vaccines when they were offered was behind New Zealand's continued lockdowns.

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"The reason we locked down hard was that we failed to buy the vaccines when we were offered them, by the way, for $40 million more… but the lockdown's been costing us $1 billion, sometimes more than that a week," he told host Ryan Bridge.

"I know for a fact - over time when interest rates go up, the future Ministers of Finance will one day get up and say to the New Zealand people - 'by the way, that latest drug, those more police, those various different things you want, we can't afford those.'"

In response, Pfizer said the idea of any Government paying extra for early vaccine dose delivery was "incorrect and baseless".

"Pfizer is committed to equitable access that will give all people access to a vaccine," said a spokesperson for the pharmaceutical giant. "Pfizer entered into an initial agreement with the Government to supply 1.5 million doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine on December 22 2020 and entered into an additional agreement for 8.5 million on March 5, 2021."

The spokesperson said Pfizer's discussions with the New Zealand Government were confidential but noted each agreement was based on dose availability at the time.

"We continue to meet our contractual commitments to the Government in every respect," the spokesperson said in a statement. 

"The rollout of the vaccination program including the management of inventory is the responsibility of the Government."

Earlier on Tuesday, National Party COVID-19 Response spokesperson Chris Bishop said the Government should have at least asked Pfizer if securing vaccine doses earlier was a possibility.

"They did not even ask if that was an option on the table and in my view that is negligent. The Government should have gone to Pfizer and said, 'if we pay more [money] earlier, would you give us earlier delivery of vaccines?'

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"That is an irresponsible action from a Government that should have been doing all that it took, all that it could to get as many vaccines into the country as quickly as they possibly could," Bishop told reporters.

Earlier this month, COVID-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins said Pfizer had a "higher moral standard" than the ACT Party after its leader David Seymour suggested offering cash for more vaccine doses. 

The Government "had conversations directly with representatives of Pfizer to discuss this issue. Pfizer has been very clear…  they are not willing to offer rich countries the opportunity to pay more in order to displace countries who cannot afford to do that," Hipkins told Parliament.

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