SUVA, Jan. 14 (Xinhua) -- Fiji is working to register all receivers planned for the first phase of its vaccination against the COVID-19 pandemic.
According to Fiji's leading news website Fijivillage, Fiji's Permanent Secretary for the Ministry of Health James Fong said on Thursday that the priority group in phase 1 will include frontline workers and people aged 60 years and above.
Authorities are putting a list together for this group of people to ensure a good coverage before moving to other groups, he said, adding that the capacity for vaccine storage has also been sorted.
The health ministry official said that he does not want to give a definitive timeline as to when the island nation will start the vaccination as authorities first want to ensure the supply chain issues are resolved.
Earlier, he said that vaccines that Fiji is expected to receive will be coming through the World Health Organization-led COVAX facility intended to maximize the chances of people in participating countries getting access to COVID-19 vaccines as quickly, fairly and safely as possible.
This facility will help Fiji gain access to vaccines for free. The health ministry will make sure that everyone in Fiji or as many people as possible will get vaccinated in order for the island nation to have some leeway to open its borders.
Fiji, an island nation with a population of around 900,000, recorded its first confirmed case of COVID-19 on March 19, 2020, and 53 cases in total with two deaths so far.
It still maintains a strict travel restriction for foreign visitors alongside a nationwide curfew effective from March 30 last year. Enditem
