Researchers looking at the COVID-19 pandemic are being invited to apply for grants from a new fund.

“Tens of thousands of lives have been saved in New Zealand because of the way this country has responded to COVID-19,” Andrew Little said.

“We have the lowest death rate in the OECD, well below that of other countries, including the United Kingdom, the United States and even Australia. We need to build on what we’ve learnt from the past two years to help us plan for future pandemics and to improve our services.

“We are looking at a whole range of things, such as how different sectors of society, including Māori, Pacific and disabled communities, are affected by COVID, and what we have learnt about working with them. This will help us understand what still needs to be done and prepare for future pandemics.

“We’re also looking at how the methods used to get four million people vaccinated against COVID-19 can be used in other vaccination programmes.

“It was the largest vaccination programme we have ever seen in this country, and we need to have a good look at it and see how we can apply what we’ve learnt in other vaccination programmes.”

A request for proposals for research opens on April 19 and closes on June 10. Initial details are on GETS, the Government’s electronic tenders services website.

The $9 million fund comes from the Government’s $74.1 billion COVID-19 response fund.

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