Permanent Secretary for Health, Doctor James Fong says three of the 13 people who have died from COVID-19 had received the second dose of the vaccine before they died however two of these individuals were infected with the virus before they got the second dose of the vaccine and one died within two weeks of the second dose.
Doctor Fong says we must understand that there is a difference between cure and prevention.
He says the vaccine is not a cure for COVID-19, which means it will not help if you get vaccinated when you are already infected and sick with the virus.
Doctor Fong stresses the vaccine helps to prevent you from getting COVID-19 and dying from it.
Two doses of the vaccine help to lower your risk of getting infected with the virus, and greatly reduces your risk of severe disease and death.
You also must have two doses of the vaccine and wait at least two weeks after the second dose to be considered fully vaccinated.
Doctor Fong says this is because your immune system needs at least two weeks to react to the vaccine and form a protective response.
So, to be considered fully-vaccinated, you need to receive both doses and wait two weeks after the second dose for the full protection to take effect.
He says no one in Fiji has died from COVID-19 after they have been fully-vaccinated against COVID-19. Over the past 24 hour period, Fiji had 568 new cases of COVID-19.
Of this, 262 cases are from the Western Division and 306 cases are from the Central Division.
He says this should not be misinterpreted as a true reduction of COVID-19 cases in these two divisions.
Doctor Fong says over the last few weeks they have had to shift and re-strategize the COVID-19 testing strategy to address the significant pressure on the laboratories and health services.
He says this includes being more targeted with the testing so they can provide rapid turnaround of results for those most at risk of severe COVID-19.
Doctor Fong says they can anticipate that these shifts have an impact on the daily reported case numbers and this is why it is critical that we use various data to inform our understanding of the current situation in these divisions.
He says they do know that the risk of exposure to the virus in both Central and Western divisions remains extremely high with significant community transmission of the virus.
The Ministry of Health is considering a revision of curfew hours and lifting of containment borders in Viti Levu based on vaccine coverage.
Permanent Secretary for Health, Doctor James Fong says they established the border of the Lami-Nausori Containment Zone because of the high number of clusters within that specific containment area.
He says since this time they have seen increasing cases on both sides of the border, meaning that they now will be considering the benefits of keeping these measures in place.
Doctor Fong says with the rise of cases in the West, as well as increasing vaccination coverage, they are now reviewing the purpose and utility of the containment zone border entirely.
He says any adjustments to this containment zone will depend on the number of vaccines provided to the communities, in addition to vaccination coverage for specific locations.
Doctor Fong says they know there are communities that will see higher flows of traffic once the containment zone border is lifted, particularly places along the Coral Coast highway that are stopover areas for people commuting between Suva and Lautoka.
He says the health teams will be imminently surveying these areas to confirm what percentage of these communities have been vaccinated before they consider lifting the border.
Where they do not see sufficient vaccine coverage, they are deploying the stock of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccines, which has a shorter timeline for full immunisation.
They are also considering a revision to the curfew hours however the decision hinges on vaccine coverage.
Doctor Fong says the fact that they are considering these changes should not equate to complacency.
He stresses this outbreak is far from over as every technical factor shows the risk of transmission is extremely high across Viti Levu.
Doctor Fong says they do not have a specific date for you as to when the border will be lifted or when the curfew hours will change but they know when those actions are taken they will be accompanied by more stringent enforcement of the existing health measures, particularly the blanket restriction on social gatherings.
Travel from Viti Levu to the North and to the maritime islands remains highly regulated with pre-departure and quarantine protocols in place.
There are no near-term plans to change the protocols around inter-island travel.
Permanent Secretary for Health, Doctor James Fong says if we reach our goal of at least 80% vaccination of our target population for COVID-19, while we may still see individuals infected with the virus, we will not see nearly as many people becoming seriously ill, needing hospitalisation or dying from COVID-19.
He says their ultimate goal remains for us to protect our friends, family and colleagues from becoming seriously ill or dying from this virus, and the vaccines are the best way to do that.
Doctor Fong says recent global studies have also shown that these COVID vaccines reduce the risk of the virus spreading to other household members.
He says these vaccines will protect those who take them but also, to some extent, those that the vaccinated person comes into contact with.
The Permanent Secretary stresses that we should all be vaccinated, not only for our health, but for the health of those around us, our families, friends, co-workers, and customers.
He says the clear message that is reverberating from renowned health institutions such as US CDC, and others, and the experience of many nations around the world that are facing the same challenge as we are, is that widespread immunity through vaccines is the only sustainable way out of this pandemic.
The Permanent Secretary further says we must continue to apply all of the public health measures in our toolbox that we know are effective also against these variants - like wearing masks, washing hands frequently and maintaining physical distance from others outside our immediate household.
He says we are still a long way from having at least 80% of the population fully vaccinated, so these are prudent measures despite our improving vaccine coverage.
For those in our community who have yet to be vaccinated, Doctor James Fong reminds you to listen to the facts and not be misguided by the misinformation and rumours spreading within our community.
He says the decisions you make not only affect you, but those in your family, broader community and as a country.
Doctor Fong also reminds everyone, vaccinated or not, we all need to stay alert to our own health and immediately self-isolate if you have symptoms of COVID-19.
He says over the past few weeks, we have also seen a spike in dangerous misinformation and individuals posing as experts providing incorrect facts about COVID-19.
Doctor Fong says they are concerned that people who are inclined to resist the vaccine will cling to that misinformation or even misconstrue facts that are reported correctly, threatening the efforts of the teams trying to provide the best protection possible for our communities.
He says here in Fiji, the science and evidence also shows us that we are on the right track with responding to the Delta strain.
He further says the latest global data tells us the vaccine does reduce the risk of symptomatic disease from the virus and while some people may still be infected with the virus when fully vaccinated, COVID-19 vaccines are highly effective at reducing a person's risk of becoming seriously ill, needing hospitalisation or dying from COVID-19.
After one dose of the AstraZeneca vaccine, a person is provided 71% protection from being severely ill or hospitalised; and this goes up to 92% protection 14 days after their second dose.
A fully vaccinated person may still get infected with the virus, however they will likely experience only mild or no symptoms because of the protection provided by these vaccines.
For instance, in the UK where they have a high vaccination coverage rate, they are now seeing surges of cases due to Delta variant, however their daily hospitalisations and deaths have been less than previous COVID-19 outbreaks.
For the US, we can see a similar picture where they are reporting significant spikes of COVID-19 cases and deaths in areas with high unvaccinated communities. Their hospitals and intensive care units are full of the unvaccinated.
Ministry of Health’s Head of Health Protection, Dr Aalisha Sahukhan says out of the 13 COVID-19 deaths recorded, 6 were reported in the Central Division and 7 were reported in the Western Division.
She says the first death is a 41-year-old man from Sigatoka. He arrived at the Sigatoka Hospital with severe respiratory distress. He died four days after admission at the Lautoka Hospital. He was infected with COVID-19 before receiving the second dose of the vaccine and was not fully vaccinated when he became infected.
The second death is a 86 year old woman from Tamavua who died at the CWM Hospital. She was infected with COVID-19 before receiving the second dose of the vaccine and was not fully vaccinated when she became infected.
The third death is a 25-year-old woman from Lautoka. She was also infected with COVID-19 before receiving the second dose of the vaccine and was not fully vaccinated when she became infected.
The fourth death is a 39-year-old man from Lami. He was not vaccinated.
The fifth death is a 88-year-old woman from Lami who died at home. She was not fully vaccinated.
The sixth death is a 88 year old man from Ba who died at the Ba Mission Hospital. He was not vaccinated.
The seventh death is a 86 year old woman from Ba. She was declared dead on arrival at the Ba Mission Hospital. She was not vaccinated.
The eighth COVID-19 death is a 60-year-old woman from Ba. She was also declared dead on arrival at the Ba Mission Hospital. She was not vaccinated.
The ninth death is a 82-year-old man from Sigatoka. He was declared dead on arrival at the Sigatoka Hospital. He was not vaccinated.
The 10th COVID-19 death is a 84-year-old man from Sigatoka. He was declared dead on arrival at the Sigatoka Hospital. He was not vaccinated.
The 11th death is a 56-year-old man from Nasinu who died at home and was not vaccinated.
The 12th death is a 57-year-old man from Nasinu who died at home and was not vaccinated.
The 13th death is a 77-year-old man from Nausori who died at the CWM Hospital. He was not vaccinated.
Dr. Sahukhan says there have been six more deaths of COVID-19 patients however these deaths have been classified as non-COVID deaths by their doctors.
There have now been 340 deaths due to COVID-19 in Fiji. The Ministry has also recorded 177 COVID-19 positive patients who died from pre-existing serious conditions.
The Health Ministry's Chief Medical Advisor Doctor Jemesa Tudravu says 386 COVID patients are currently admitted in hospital facilities of which 74 are in severe or critical condition.
Dr Tudravu says 41% of these patients are on oxygen and 4 are on ventilators.
He says 19,905 individuals in the Central Division are under home isolation while 3,383 in the West are in home isolation.
Dr Tudravu says all major health services are operational in all the divisions.
He says their Telehealth services also operational in the Westeen and Central Divisions.
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