Covid-19 Vaccine Strategy
Science and Technical Advisory Group
Minutes – Wednesday 18 November 2020
(Confidential)
Date & time
10:00 to 11:00AM, Wednesday 18 November
Attendees
Ian Town (Chair)
Justine Daw (MBIE)
David Murdoch (Deputy Chair)
Jonathan Lane (MBIE)
Sue Crengle
Emily Robinson (MBIE)
Ian Frazer
Chriselle Braganza (MBIE)
Graeme Jarvis
Glenys Karran (MFAT), Item 6
Peter McIntyre
Fran Priddy (VAANZ), Item 7
Nikki Moreland
Helen Petousis-Harris
John Taylor
Nikki Turner
James Ussher
Apologies
Matire Harwood
Item for discussion
Led by
Administration
1.
Apologies
Ian Town
Matire Harwood
2.
STAG Conflicts of Interest
Ian Town
The current COI register was noted, with no new conflicts declared.
3.
Review of minutes from last STAG meeting
Ian Town
The minutes from the STAG meeting on 4 November 2020 were approved.
4.
Matters arising
Justine Daw
Justine Daw provided updates on matters arising:
COVAX Project Lead Glenys Karran (MFAT) is providing an update on the
Facility at today’s meeting (Item 6)
Information on how to invoice MBIE for preparation and attendance at
STAG meetings has been sent around. Please send the signed Contract for
Services and invoices to Emily Robinson.
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5.
Review of rol ing monthly planner
Justine Daw
Justine Daw noted that we have nearly completed the Science and Clinical
Review Panel documentation to support the bilateral APA negotiations. While
there may be further work in relation to potential COVAX vaccine candidates, we
expect bilateral activity to largely be completed before Christmas.
There may be periodic requests for advice into 2021, as we monitor purchased
vaccine candidates over time (in respect of delivery schedules, logistics and
performance) and support COVAX decision-making. In preparation, A3 Science
Overviews have been developed to support this.
Action: MBIE to circulate the current suite of A3 Science Overviews to the
Science and Clinical Review Panel members and consider options for an
electronic repository (e.g. a Dropbox) for this information.
Updates
6.
COVAX candidate assessment process
Glenys Karran
Glenys Karran (COVAX Project Lead) provided an update on the COVAX Facility,
including the organisational developments, the purchase pathways and expect
Discussion included:
As at 13 Nov 2020, COVAX has 186 participating economies, 94 of which are
self-financing and 92 in the Advance Market Commitment. This is an
encouraging collaboration of governments in support of COVID-19 vaccine
development and equitable distribution.
COVAX is now significantly larger than originally envisioned, and this
presents challenges in the standing-up of governance and accountability
mechanisms. The establishment of a smaller working body to support the
Secretariat is under discussion.
In terms of timeframes, New Zealand has selected the ‘optional purchase’
pathway which offers a higher degree of choice, as opposed to a committed
pathway. There are two decision-making windows when vaccine candidates
are presented, the first being whether to ‘opt out’ of a purchase
opportunity. If you do not opt out, further information (including doses and
pricing) will be presented for a second (final) decision on whether to
purchase. The decision-making windows are likely to be small (1-2 weeks).
The first three candidate purchase opportunities have been presented, and
New Zealand has retained the option to purchase them.
There has been some concern from WHO that bilateral APAs may
undermine supply through COVAX. Glenys confirmed that Taskforce is very
aware of this concern, and that work to enable the donation of surplus
doses will need to be carried out (including indemnity/liability issues).
There was a question to participating economies as to whether mRNA
vaccines would be included in COVAX. New Zealand signalled interest in
small quantities of mRNA, conscious that countries on the committed
pathway would have views on this. A final decision has yet to be conveyed.
Action: MFAT to update the STAG when a decision on the inclusion of mRNA in
the COVAX facility is known.
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Action: MBIE to discuss with Karl Ferguson (Communications and Engagement
Project lead) on responding to public/media enquiries on COVAX.
Discussion
7. Surveillance, post-marketing and associated research needs for NZ and
Helen Petousis-
Polynesia
Harris
Fran Priddy
Drs Helen Petousis-Harris and Fran Priddy (VAANZ Clinical Director), supported
David Murdoch
by Prof David Murdoch, presented a draft paper identifying opportunities and
priorities for national surveillance and monitoring. It also noted specific draft
recommendations, including the urgency in respect of agreeing overall
leadership and coordination of a national safety monitoring programme.
Key points included:
Initial COVID-19 vaccines will require substantial additional immunogenicity,
safety, effectiveness and acceptability data collection in the post-licensure
environment, and New Zealand is wel -positioned to effectively monitor
vaccine safety for NZ and Polynesia.
New Zealand urgently needs a coherent programme to identify the high-
level priorities and connect the groups already engaged in these areas (and
who may be ready with expertise to undertake aspects of the work).
Operational research, hypothesis testing research and programme
evaluation research should all be incorporated into the overall design.
Both MFAT and MOH had provided some initial feedback to the authors,
and this would need to be factored into the final paper.
Discussion included:
The STAG agreed that a framework for this work and coordination of effort
was urgently needed. There are several groups already engaged in these
areas, and consultation is needed to minimise duplication of efforts and
ensure that existing resources are most effectively engaged.
The safety and immunogenicity studies would be particularly important and
it was stressed that decisions on funding need to be made to support these
efforts, including those where work is already underway.
The overarching priority and policy questions need to be agreed to guide
the approach – while some (e.g. the safety questions) may be fairly
straightforward, others will be much more complex and would need to be
framed carefully. Updates to New Zealand’s border strategy will help
determine the priorities and who needs to be in the studies.
There was a need to ensure that Māori communities are a focus in the
studies to demonstrate immunogenicity, and that those who will be going
out into those communities have strong evidence of this to increase uptake
and acceptance of the vaccines.
The STAG agreed that further consultation on the proposal, including with
PHARMAC and Medsafe, was needed, and welcomed the suggestion of a
dedicated workshop to further discuss and refine the proposed approach. It
was agreed that time is of the essence as both real-world planning and
budget processes are moving at pace.
Action: MBIE to convene a workshop to discuss and aid finalisation of the paper
(2 December was proposed, ahead of the scheduled STAG meeting).
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8.
Questions for the STAG
Justine Daw
Q
Do Phase III results for the Pfizer and Moderna candidates infer that the
mRNA platform is likely to be effective and/or that candidates targeting
the spike protein are likely to be effective? Or too early to say?
A
The results bode very well for the platform, and targeting the spike
protein is likely to be effective in general. However, it’s too early at this
stage to draw any definitive conclusions.
Q
What is the STAG’s view on the recent media stories concerning Danish
mink? Is there any potential impact on New Zealand’s vaccine strategy,
and what can we do to prepare?
A
There have been multiple questions on this, including queries about
other domestic animals. MoH has commissioned a report, and initial
risk assessments suggest that it’s unlikely to be an immediate issue.
9.
Other matters
Justine Daw
No other matters were raised.
10.
Meeting close
Ian Town
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