Fiji's Covid-19 vaccine roll-out target population is now people aged 18 and over, a Health Ministry review has revealed.
A health worker prepares a dose of the AstraZeneca vaccine for a resident at a drive-through vaccination centre in Suva. Photo: AFP / Leon Lord
The Ministry said following the mop-up vaccination program for the first dose and the review of the target population, it had updated its total target population of adults aged 18 and over for the nation-wide Covid-19 vaccination campaign.
Health Secretary James Fong said in the review, which is routinely undertaken in mass vaccination programs, the ministry used the health zones generated profiling data for its target population to ensure that medical area targets are relevant to medical teams looking after the area.
"When calculating the national vaccination coverage as a percentage, the total adults vaccinated is divided by the total adult population," Dr Fong said.
"Therefore, the increase in the total number for the adult population (the denominator of the calculation) at the national level has reduced the percentage of vaccination coverage nationally by 4 percent.
"At the sub-national level, while in some places there was an increase in the denominator, especially in Rewa, Naitasiri, Nadroga and Ba, other areas like Nasinu and the maritime islands have seen a decrease."
Dr Fong said as of 23 September, 590,386 adults in Fiji have received their first dose of the vaccine and 419,065 have received their second doses.
"Based on our updated total population of 618,173 people aged 18 years and over (adults), the revised vaccination coverage rates are 95.5 percent for adults who have received at least one dose, and 67.8 percent are now fully vaccinated nation-wide.
"As for the children, 14,680 children in Fiji have received their first dose of the vaccine as of the 23rd of September.
"We will be tracking our vaccine coverage rates once we have firmed up our 15 to 17-year-old denominator."
Dr Fong said the Moderna vaccination of children aged 15 to 17 years, which got underway on Monday, would cease this weekend to allow the Ministry to take stock of the progress of the campaign.
"We will advise on the resumption date of the vaccination campaign, and the vaccination sites for children will be advertised on the Ministry of Health and Medical Services Facebook page as well as the Government Facebook page.
"Parental or guardian consent remains mandatory before vaccination, and no vaccine will be administered to any child without the consent of the parent or guardian.
"Vaccination for children aged 12 to 17 years is safe. Similar to adults, children can also experience the side effects of Covid-19 vaccination such as pain, swelling at the jab site, fever, and body aches."
Vaccination for those aged 18 years and over would continue, Dr Fong said.
.. Photo: Facebook/Fiji govt
93 new cases, one death reported in last 24 hours
The Ministry reported 93 new cases of Covid-19 in the community on Friday, 75 of them from the remote islands.
Ovalau Island in the Lomaiviti Group recorded its first cases with two, while 42 were reported in Beqa, 25 in Nacula and six in Kadavu.
Dr Fong said all patients were isolated.
"Another four quarantine cases that also tested positive are confirmed as historical cases on Ovalau.
"Contact tracing is underway for the new cases who remain in the isolation facility and monitored by the Levuka health team."
All travel to Ovalau has been suspended.
There have been 64 new recoveries to report since the last update, which means that there are now 12,999 active cases, Dr Fong said.
There have been 50,470 cases during the outbreak that started in April 2021, he said.
Dr Fong said they also recorded a total of 50,540 cases in Fiji since the first case was reported in March 2020, with 36,524 recoveries.
He added one new Covid death was recorded from the Central Division. A 73 year-old Suva woman had died at home on September the 22nd.
"There have been eight more deaths of Covid-positive patients. However, these deaths have been classified as non-Covid deaths by their doctors.
"The doctors have determined that these deaths were caused by a serious pre-existing medical condition and not Covid-19."
Fiji now has 12,999 active cases in isolation, with the death toll at 584.