New Zealand has offered, and Fiji has accepted, sufficient doses of AstraZeneca for 250,000 people from New Zealand’s domestic vaccine portfolio, New Zealand Associate Minister of Health and Foreign Affairs Aupito William Sio and Fiji Health and Medical Services Minister Ifereimi Waqainabete announced today.
“New Zealand and Fiji are working together closely to support Fiji with access to safe and effective COVID-19 vaccines at the earliest opportunity,” the Ministers said.
Both Ministers stressed that there are still a number of steps to work through before the vaccines can be delivered. The vaccine still has to be approved by Medsafe before it can be used in New Zealand and donated to Fiji.
A month after being hit with devastating floods, Timor-Leste is struggling to cope amid a Covid-19 outbreak.
Last month s floods left more than 45 people dead including a dozen children and tens of thousands homeless.
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Photo: Supplied/UNICEF
The floods were brought on by a cyclone in Indonesia.
In its latest update issued on 21 April, the government said 28,734 households were affected by the floods, with 90 percent of the homes in the capital Dili.
The UN Children s Agency said over 6000 people were still in 30 evacuation centres across Dili.
The UNICEF s head in Dili, Bilal Durrani, told RNZ Pacific the situation was dire as the government is trying to cope with the challenges of Covid-19.