Fijians urged to take booster shots amid Covid spike

Photo: IANS


Fijians have been advised to get their booster doses against Covid-19 amid a spike in news cases.

According to a report by the Fiji Broadcasting Corporation (FBC), the Ministry of Health in Fiji has registered 61 new instances of Covid-19 this week, according to Xinhua news agency.

Permanent Secretary for Health James Fong said of the 61 cases, 38 were from the central part of Fiji, 18 in the western part and five in the northern part.

Fong said 95 per cent of the target population have received the first two doses of the vaccine and 30 per cent above the age of 18 have had a booster dose.

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Health claimed that 90.6 percent of the eligible population over the age of 12 had been fully vaccinated as part of its school immunization program.

The program, which was aimed at youths aged 15, 16, and 17, was launched by the Ministry in January.

A total of 15,638 pupils aged 12 to 14 have gotten two doses of the vaccine, while 32,017 children aged 15 to 17 have been fully immunized.

Since March 2020, when Fiji reported its first confirmed case, the cumulative number of Covid-19 infections has topped 64,000.

A total of 863 people have died in the country so far.
(with inputs from IANS)