The Ministry of Health says all COVID-19 vaccines that have been approved for use are effective in preventing a person from getting severely sick if infected by the disease however they are less useful when it comes to preventing transmission.
Permanent Secretary, Dr. James Fong says the most important thing now is to get access to the vaccines.
He says the vaccines that Fiji is expected to receive will be coming through an initiative called COVAX facility and its principal role is to maximise 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.
Dr. Fong says Fiji now has the ability to store Moderna, Johnson and Johnson and Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccines.
Dr. Fong says people should not expect that just because they will be vaccinated, we can do away with all COVID-19 safe measures.
He says Australia, the UK and big agencies have warned the world that we will still stay under COVID-19 safe restrictions for a while even after the vaccination.
Dr. Fong adds we have to make sure that everyone in Fiji or as many people as possible get vaccinated in order for us to have some leeway to open our borders.
That was Permanent Secretary for Health James Fong.
