New Zealand Prime Minister John Key announced on Monday that the government will pay millions of dollars to order an initial supply of 300,000 doses of a vaccine from Baxter Healthcare.

"Having the vaccine is primarily an insurance policy, we want to be in a position to have the vaccine rather than the other way around," Key told a press conference, adding the doses are sufficient for 150,000 workers.

"Global demand for vaccines is high, so we have secured sufficient vaccine for this priority group of New Zealanders. In addition to this purchase we have a long-standing option to access more vaccine if required under existing supply agreements with Australian vaccine maker CSL," said Health Minister Tony Ryall.

The vaccine is due for delivery within the month but it will not be used for an immunization program unless it is licensed by Medsafe.

Ryall said that currently the new pandemic influenza virus was resulting in a mild illness for most people.

The confirmed number of cases in New Zealand hit 1,059 on Monday, but that was the "tip of the iceberg", said Ryall, because there was less testing now under the management phase of the health response compared to containment.

About 435 people died in New Zealand yearly from seasonal flu and numbers were expected to be higher when influenza A/H1N1 was added to the mix.

(Xinhua News Agency July 6, 2009)