Thursday, 8 April 2021
CORONAVIRUS UPDATE
by
His Excellency President Lionel
Aingimea
Thursday, 8 April 2021
Nauru will launch its COVID-19
Vaccination Program tomorrow, Friday 9 April with Nauru's leaders
among the first 100 to receive the first of two doses of the COVAX
AstraZeneca vaccine.
The full roll-out of the
vaccination program will continue next week. Phase one (for the
first dose) has a four-week schedule. All 7000 adults are expected
to have received their first dose in this time. The second dose
will be administered from mid-June to early-July.
However, His Excellency President
Lionel Aingimea says some people will not receive the vaccine such
as pregnant and breastfeeding mothers, and others that may have
certain allergies or specific medical conditions.
Today, 8 April, Nauru received a
donation of 10,000 doses of the vaccine from the Government of
India.
The President and Health Minister
Isabella Dageago express gratitude to the Government and people of
India for the generous donation as well as others that have worked
in the background to secure this second consignment for Nauru. The
India donation now ensures 100 per cent immunisation coverage of
the adult population of Nauru including expatriate workers on
island.
On 1 April, Nauru received the
first delivery of 7200 doses, which now brings the total to 17,200
doses. This means the adult population of 7,000 can be fully
vaccinated by early July; possibly making Nauru the first to
vaccinate its adult population.
"We've kept COVID out, by the grace
of God, and again by the grace of God we're getting all our adults
vaccinated," President Aingimea said.
The President adds that given the
earlier than expected delivery of the vaccine to Nauru, combined
with a short shelf life, meant a review of the roll-out program was
needed to bring forward vaccination yet keeping within the World
Health Organisation's (WHO) recommendations and guidelines for
administering the two doses.
Experts advise that while the first
dose provides protection, the second dose is necessary to give the
highest level of immunity and protection.
The President says although Nauru
is receiving the vaccines from two different countries, there is no
difference other than the packaging and labelling.
Both batches of the vaccine that
Nauru has received were designed and created by a team at Oxford
University who entered into an arrangement with AstraZeneca
Pharmaceuticals; who then licenced SK Bio in Korea and the Serum
Institute of India to manufacture the vaccine.
The World Health Organisation, the
COVAX Facility and other expert advice confirms that both vaccines
are exactly the same and are fully interchangeable.
Nauruans will be scheduled to
receive their vaccine based on the Electoral roll by districts. A
vaccine database will be created for this.
As people generally know which roll
they are on, this will be easier to schedule people to get their
vaccines.
The Department of Justice is
working on capturing expat workers to also include in the
database.
Getting vaccinated provides
protection for yourself, your family and the community at large. It
could also enable you to travel when borders reopen as some
countries may require international travelers to be vaccinated
before entering their country.
As of 4 April 2021, WHO data states
that a total of 604,032,357 vaccine doses have been administered.
Fiji has delivered 6,278 doses.
At this time, WHO considers that
the benefits of the AstraZeneca vaccine outweigh its risks and
recommends that vaccinations continue.