Hon Dr MEGAN WOODS (Minister of Research, Science and Innovation): On Thursday last week, I joined the Prime Minister at the Malaghan Institute in Wellington to provide an update on progress made on New Zealand's vaccine strategy, with additional funding going towards securing access for vaccines when they become available. In keeping with our "going hard and going early" approach to COVID-19 in New Zealand, we have been engaged with the global search for a vaccine since the early stages, and we are now well connected to all parts of vaccine development, distribution, and use. The contribution is in the order of hundreds of millions of dollars and will help secure access to promising vaccine candidates. This funding is in addition to our contributions for the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations in the global COVAX Facility announced in May. Securing early access to a vaccine will be critical not only for our own population but for our Pacific neighbours as well, and we're working hard to ensure that New Zealanders can get vaccinated as soon as one becomes available. 