The Government’s incompetent and negligent vaccine contracting is coming back to haunt them as the Prime Minister warns the country risks running out of vaccines, National’s Covid-19 Response spokesperson Chris Bishop says.

“The Prime Minister’s comment at this afternoon’s 1pm press conference that ‘it’s not about running out of vaccines, it’s about having a little less demand’ is unbelievable.

“New Zealanders have shown an encouraging enthusiasm to go and get vaccinated. Most Kiwis know that vaccinating as many people as possible as quickly as possible is the way to avoid more lockdowns and to reconnect to the world.

“New Zealand’s vaccine roll-out has been the slowest in the developed world. Now it is starting to ramp up, there is a real risk we will run out of vaccines and the Prime Minister says demand needs to lessen.

“This is incompetence on a grand scale. Right at the moment demand is surging, the Government can’t meet that demand.

“Chris Hipkins said in May that all of New Zealand’s Pfizer stock was meant to be delivered by September. What happened to that commitment?

“New Zealand signed contracts with vaccine manufacturers late, we actually got around to ordering our vaccine later than other countries, we refused to offer an incentive payment to Pfizer for earlier delivery, and we still haven’t got around to ordering any booster shots.

“This lockdown happened because our vaccination rate was way too low. Now the Government looks like they want to slow down the very roll-out that will help avoid more lockdowns in the future.”