A major jab in the arm for our Covid vaccine rollout.

Pfizer has confirmed it'll deliver an estimated one million doses to this country next month.

The shipments will arrive in weekly drops and double the number of Pfizer doses received this year.

Covid response minister Chris Hipkins says it means we can continue jabs for priority groups - while also having certainty to start on the general public.

He told Heather du Plessis-Allan that Pfizer have only been confirming deliveries one month in advance. 

"They've given us broad indications."

Hipkins says that Pfizer are still indicating that they will deliver 10 million doses by October, but they might "smooth" those deliveries out to November to avoid having a lot of doses stocked up in the freezer. 

"We will talk to them about making sure we don't run the risk of doses expiring before we have the chance to use them."

Hipkins says Pfizer is "absolutely committed" to delivering the doses that have been ordered.

He says that at the vaccine programme's peak around late July or early August, the government is expecting to inject 50,000 doses a day.

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