There are 7 new COVID-19 deaths bringing the total number of COVID-19 deaths recorded since confirmation of the third wave to 24.
Five of the new deaths reported were fully vaccinated but had pre-existing medical conditions that contributed to their death.
There was one person who was not vaccinated and another person had received only one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine.
Permanent Secretary for Health Doctor James Fong says the first COVID- 19 death is a 53-year old man from the Western Division, who died at home on the 3rd of this month.
Doctor Fong adds this man had significant pre-existing medical conditions which contributed to his death and was not fully vaccinated.
He says the second COVID-19 death is a 57-year-old man from the Central Division who died at the CWM Hospital on the 7th of this month.
Doctor Fong further says this man had presented to the CWM Hospital with shortness of breath and severe cough on the 28th of last month and had been admitted.
He adds this man also had multiple pre-existing medical conditions which had contributed to his death and was fully vaccinated.
The Permanent Secretary for Health says the third COVID-19 death is a 73-year-old man from the Western Division who died at the Sigatoka Hospital Emergency Department on the 7th of this month.
Doctor Fong adds this man had multiple pre-existing medical conditions and was not vaccinated.
He adds the fourth COVID-19 death is of a 66-year-old woman from the Northern Division who died at home on the 8th of this month.
This woman had pre-existing medical conditions and was fully vaccinated.
Doctor Fong also says the fifth COVID-19 death is a 57-year-old woman from the Central Division who died at home on the 9th of this month. She had pre-existing medical conditions and was fully vaccinated.
The Permanent Secretary for Health adds the sixth COVID-19 death is a 53-year-old woman from the Central Division who died at home on the 10th of this month. She was fully vaccinated.
He confirms the seventh COVID-19 death is a 73-year-old woman from the Central Division who died at home on the 11th of this month. She had a significant pre-existing medical condition and was fully vaccinated.
As at 11th January 2022, 39,179 Fijians over the age of 18 have received the booster dose of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine while 142,240 people are still due to get their booster shot.
The booster dose program began in November last year with frontline health and essential service workers and was later opened to everyone aged 18 and over.
Permanent Secretary for Health Doctor James Fong says they currently have more than 100,000 doses of the Moderna vaccine in stock and are also expecting more doses of the Pfizer vaccine by the middle of this month.
Dr Fong says a booster dose significantly increases protection from symptomatic infection and strengthens protection against severe disease.
The Ministry of Health is encouraging people over the age of 18 to get their booster shot if they are due, especially if you are at higher risk of developing severe disease.
92.4% of the target population are now fully vaccinated while 97.9% have at-least received one dose.
This means that 570,990 adults in the country are now fully vaccinated.
30,029 children between the ages of 15 and 17 have received both doses of the vaccine while 10,657 children between the ages of 12 and 14 have received both doses of the Pfizer vaccine.
417 new COVID-19 cases have been recorded by the Health Ministry since Tuesday.
213 new COVID-19 cases were recorded on Tuesday and 204 new cases were recorded in the last 24 hours ending at 8am yesterday.
Of the 417 cases recorded since the last update, 194 cases were recorded in the Central Division; 182 cases were recorded in the Western Division, 41 cases were recorded in the Northern Division, and nil cases were recorded in the Eastern Division.
There are 205 people with COVID-19 currently admitted in hospitals around the country.
None of these people are in severe or critical condition.
114 people are admitted in the Central Division, 50 people in the Western Division and 41 people in the Northern Division.
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