175,500 doses of the Pfizer vaccines has been officially handed over to the Ministry of Health which will be used for booster shots and children above the ages of 12 years.
It has been confirmed that Pfizer doses are given at least 21 days apart.
These vaccines have been made available to Fiji through the partnership of Australia, New Zealand and UNICEF.
Permanent Secretary for health Doctor James Fong says they are happy that these doses have arrived as they will help them clear off their booster programs.
Dr Fong says most importantly they want to vaccinate the vulnerable as they are suffering a lot.
He says they will not be facing any difficulties in administering Pfizer vaccines in the Central Division as it is stored in an ultra-cold chain at the moment.
Dr Fong says having the ultra-cold chain means they can store the vaccine for a long time but there will be difficulties in deploying.
He says they are planning how the vaccines will be deployed and he hopes they will be done with it tomorrow so that they can start administering.
The Australian High Commissioner John Feakes says over the next 6 to 7 weeks the rest of the vaccines will be arriving and they are glad to be partnering with UNICEF and New Zealand in making the vaccines available for Fiji.
The UNICEF Representative for the Pacific, Jonathan Veitch says these special vaccines have come in a cold chain which is at -80 degrees and has a longer shelf life which can be used over the following months.
Veitch says it is a great advantage that the Fijian Government has installed and has an ultra-cold chain capacity in the country at the moment.
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