New Zealand still candidate for Covid-19 'best responder' but slow vaccination a concern, Time magazine says

New Zealand remains a contender for the title of Covid-19 “best responder” but this country’s slow rate of vaccination is a cause for concern, according to an article in Time magazine. A year into the Covid-19 pandemic, the group took a second look at several countries it had considered to be standouts for their handling of the initial stages of the pandemic. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has explained the timing of New Zealand’s vaccination rollout, pointing out this country did not have the Covid-19 public health emergencies being experienced by some other countries where vaccine emergency use authorisations had been granted. The Government wanted to ensure vaccines being used in New Zealand were “safe for New Zealanders” and were approved by regulator Medsafe, Ardern said.