"Cabinet is yet to consider whether to use the AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine in New Zealand," Verrall said.
"However, this is an important step towards enabling the donation of AstraZeneca from New Zealand to Pacific countries, where we have made commitments."
The lack of intention to immediately use the vaccine has been met with calls from Act Party leader David Seymour that the Government had lacked planning and preparation.
Verrall told the Herald the plan remained to use the Pfizer vaccine, and not AstraZeneca for the New Zealand rollout.
"We have a plan and that is for everybody to be vaccinated with the Pfizer vaccine by the end of the year."
The main benefit of the Medsafe approval was that it would allow New Zealand to now share the vaccines through the Covax international distribution programme.
New Zealand had committed to donate at least 500,000 doses.
With the latest outbreak in Fiji worsening, Verrall said that would be the immediate focus.
Officials would be in discussion with AstraZeneca and Covax immediately to discuss how this would proceed and how many doses they could provide.
Verrall said she hoped this would be completed by late August.
Medsafe has already approved Pfizer for people aged 16 and up, and has granted provisional approval for its use in people aged 12 to 15 - which Cabinet is still yet to green-light.
The Government has secured enough Pfizer vaccine doses - 10 million - to vaccinate everyone in New Zealand.
Medsafe has already approved the Janssen vaccine for those 18 and over earlier this month. People only need one dose of the Janssen vaccine, and the Government is expecting a shipment of 2 million doses.
Janssen could be used to surge vaccinate an area where there is a outbreak.
The vaccine rollout has been using only the Pfizer vaccine so far, though it has been suggested that the rollout could have reached more people more quickly with a plan using multiple vaccines.
The Government also has a purchase agreement for 10.72 million doses of the Novavax vaccine, which Medsafe is still considering.
Covid-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins has said that none of the other vaccines were expected to arrive in New Zealand until the second half of this year anyway, and there is no evidence to suggest the Medsafe-approval process was slowed down following the
Government's announcement to focus on Pfizer.
The Government has previously said it was supporting Australia's efforts to send 1 million doses of AstraZeneca to Fiji, which is in the grips of one of the worst Delta-outbreaks in the world.
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has said that New Zealand couldn't send its AstraZeneca supplies to Fiji until it was Medsafe-approved. She has pledged half a million doses.
New Zealand has previously sent some medical specialists and pledged up to $10 million to help Fiji in its Covid response, and for food rations to mitigate poverty.
