The Health Ministry has released the dates, clusters and venues for the vaccination of children from 15 to 17 years of age across Fiji.
Through the Ministry of Education, the Moderna vaccine will be rolled out from today by school clusters within the four divisions.
Schools that are close by to each other will group to form a cluster, where students who are 15 to 17 years of age can get vaccinated.
Children will need to receive two doses of the Moderna vaccine which is administered at a dose interval of 28 days.
Parents and guardians will be asked to sign a consent form for children receiving this vaccine.
You can now register your child for vaccination through the Vaccine Registry.
Online registration is available on vra.digitalfiji.gov.fj
According to the Health Ministry, children from 15 to 17 years of age are being vaccinated first as they are mostly in secondary school and some of them are nearing the end of their secondary education.
Year 12 and Year 13 students also need to sit external exams to progress to higher education.
To date, 98% of the target population in Fiji have received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine and 66% are now fully vaccinated.
This means 587,948 adults have received their first dose and 387,320 have received their second doses.
The Ministry of Health is requesting people to apply for temporary exemptions if they are currently ill or have valid reasons for delaying their vaccination.
You can apply for the temporary exemptions on covidexemptionreq@gmail.com.
Meanwhile, vaccination for 15 to 17-year-old children begins today.
The Ministry has released the dates, clusters and venues for the vaccination of children from 15 to 17 years of age across Fiji.
You can check out the list on our website, fijivillage.
Children will need to receive two doses of the Moderna vaccine which is administered at a dose interval of 28 days.
Parents and guardians are being asked to sign a consent form for children receiving this vaccine.
You can register your child for vaccination through the Vaccine Registry before vaccination.
Online registration is available on vra.digitalfiji.gov.fj
READ FULL COVID-19 UPDATES.
A Border Health Protection Unit has been established to oversee and facilitate the health protection activities and programs conducted at our border and ports of entry to ensure our protection against trans-border infectious disease spread.
Permanent Secretary for Health Doctor James Fong says the unit will work together with the relevant military, police, and border control units providing the leadership and support needed to strengthen our quarantine operations.
He says quarantine protocols are currently undergoing review to define green list countries and/or areas and revise the pre-departure and in-country quarantine and testing protocols for fully vaccinated travellers.
Doctor Fong adds in keeping with the science, it is anticipated that pre-departure, quarantine and in-country testing conditions for fully vaccinated persons from “green” listed countries will be less stringent than then-current conditions.
The Border Health Protection Unit Facility has been established in the CAAF compound in Namaka, Nadi, and this facility will be responsible for coordinating and overseeing quarantine operations.
Doctor Fong says their function will be supplemented by a container laboratory that has arrived and is situated close to the border health protection facility.
He says as a result of an ongoing collaborative effort between WHO, DFAT, ADB, Fiji Airways, and the Government, the laboratory will have the capacity to process around 500 tests per day.
Doctor Fong has revealed that the unit will establish and inculcate a no-blame work culture and environment that allow quarantine officers to freely report on breaches of COVID safe protocols or symptoms of disease identified in any individual at the border.
The unit will also engage advanced technologies and CCTV support that support and facilitate improved border health surveillance and oversight.
It will also enforce the restriction on inbound international travellers to only fully vaccinated individuals except in some emergencies.
Doctor Fong says they will also enforce the requirement for all quarantine personnel engaged in quarantine operations to be fully vaccinated.
READ FULL COVID-19 UPDATES.
Fiji has 79 new cases of COVID-19 to report for the 24 hour period that ended at 8 am yesterday and no new COVID-19 deaths.
35 cases are from the Western Division and 44 cases are from the Central Division.
Permanent Secretary for Health Doctor James Fong says with the decrease in testing numbers, testing remains above the WHO recommended rate of 4 per 1000 population per week or approximately 3,500 tests per week.
He says they will be transitioning to community surveillance testing as severe disease numbers and positivity rates approach the containment phase levels.
There are now 12,981 active cases.
1,252 of the active cases are in the Central Division, 11,419 active cases in the Western Division, 1 active case in the Northern Division (Macuata), and 309 active cases in the Eastern Division (all in Kadavu).
There have been 49,889 cases during the outbreak that started in April 2021. We have recorded a total of 49,959 cases in Fiji since the first case was reported in March 2020.
There has been one death of a COVID-19 positive patient.
However, this death has been classified as a non-COVID death by their doctors. The doctors have determined that this death was caused by a serious pre-existing medical condition and not COVID-19.
There have now been 566 deaths due to COVID-19 in Fiji, with 564 of these deaths during the outbreak that started in April this year.
Fiji has recorded 401 COVID-19 positive patients who died from the serious medical conditions that they had before they contracted COVID-19; these are not classified as COVID-19 deaths.
READ FULL COVID-19 UPDATES.
No new COVID-19 cases were recorded in Kadavu, Malolo, Naviti, Waya, Nacula and Beqa Island in the last 24 hours.
The Permanent Secretary for Health Doctor James Fong says 53 active cases on Kadavu island are distributed between 13 villages and 1 settlement and are being followed up daily by the health team.
He says thirteen people are admitted at Vunisea Hospital where 6 are COVID positive and in stable condition, while 7 are negative.
Dr Fong says education and awareness sessions continue for the villages and communities.
The outreach teams are engaged in contact tracing, follow-up of positive cases, vaccination and management of isolation and quarantine activities.
Movement restrictions remain in force for Kadavu and its monitored by the Police team and the Vanua.
The Permanent Secretary says daily assessment continues for the active cases and their contacts in the Malolo, Naviti, Waya, and Nacula Islands.
Restrictions of movement are still in force for all villages in the four islands.
Dr Fong says they continue to monitor daily the 179 active cases on Beqa Island.
Movement restrictions remain in force for the whole island.
READ FULL COVID-19 UPDATES.
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