Covid-19 vaccines

According to the Ministry of Health, 96.4 per cent of the eligible population have received their first dose and 69.1 per cent have received their second dose.

The ministry said 13.8 per cent of people aged 18 years and over have received their booster shots.  

The mass vaccination campaign began with the AstraZeneca vaccine in April 2021.

After nearly a year since the campaign began, vaccination teams have been able to administer 247,074 doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine.

The Foreign Minister, Nanaia Mahuta, said Aotearoa New Zealand is donating an additional 9,300 doses of the Pfizer vaccine to Tonga, and 10,000 doses to Samoa,

She said it is part of this country's ongoing commitment to global vaccination efforts and to support vaccine rollout in the Pacific.

This donation brings New Zealand's total vaccine donations to over 47,000 for Tonga and 94,000 for Samoa.

The Associate Health Minister Aupito William Sio said the vaccines will enable frontline workers and vulnerable populations to access a booster as early as possible,.

Australia’s High Commissioner to Fiji John Feakes said they have been able to surpass their initial commitment for the AstraZeneca jabs.

“And we’re here today to announce that we’ve delivered almost 1.1 million vaccines in the six months. But it doesn’t end here as our support for Fiji will continue”

Fiji’s Minister of Health Dr Ifereimi Waqainabete said the donation enabled Fiji to vaccinate more than 50 percent of the target population against COVID-19.

On the same day the AFL mandated its players to be vaccinated by mid-February, Abdo took a slightly different approach.

The NRL has been grappling with mandatory vaccinations since the resumption of the 2020 season when several high-profile players including Bryce Cartwright, Josh Papalii and Joseph Tapine expressed reluctance to receive the flu shot.

Despite many businesses and rival codes mandating employees to receive a Covid-19 vaccine, Abdo said the NRL would leave it up to the players.

Henri Dokucas Naisseline said the vaccination obligation deprives people of fundamental rights of freedom and respect for human dignity.

The high chief of the Gaumha district on the island of Mare has decided to stop the vaccination drive in all the tribes under his control, suggesting the vaccine is dangerous.

However, he said those who wish to get the vaccine can still get it.

In August, the government launched an inoculation campaign in the mainly Kanak Loyalty Islands, called Vacci'tribs, in the hope of vaccinating 80 percent of the population by January.

This is in line with its National Deployment and Vaccination Plan.

112,000 doses of the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine arrived in the country last week.

Fiame said “We continue to follow all preventative measures as advised by our public health authorities like wearing a mask, frequent washing of hands and physical distancing.”

She added that without COVID-19 vaccines, natural herd immunity will not be able to sufficiently restore our society to its normal status quo.

“We know that getting vaccinated helps to break the chain of the spread, reduce the variants, protects others and promote assurances that even if we do get sick, the severity of the disease is minimal.”

The piece - updated after a report said there was no proven link to the vaccine - was popular with vaccine sceptics.

The New York Times claimed that Facebook initially held back its report because it would "look bad".

Facebook said the delay was in order to make "key fixes".

The company had already published its "Widely Viewed Content" report for the second quarter of 2021, in which it found a word search promising to reveal "your reality" was the most popular post.

Similarly frivolous "question posts" formed most of the top 20.

The vaccine had initially been given emergency use authorisation. Its two jabs, three weeks apart, are now fully approved for those aged 16 and older.

The approval is expected to set off more vaccine mandates by employers and organisations across the country.

It comes amid lingering vaccine hesitancy among many Americans.

In a statement, the FDA said its review for approval included data from approximately 44,000 people. The vaccine, which will now be marketed as Comirnaty, was found to be 91% effective in preventing Covid disease.

According to the latest data released by the Ministry of Health, a total of 87,436 people have received the first dose of the vaccine.

Of the total, 46,238 b are male and 41,198 are female.

The MOH also confirms that 37,524 people have been fully vaccinated which represents 30.8 per cent of the eligible population.

19,578 are male and 16,925 are female.

The Ministry hopes to vaccinate 99 per cent of the country's eligible population by the end of this month.