Urgent help has been given to the Ministry of Health and officials to ensure all of Cakaudrove including those who live in far-flung areas access vaccination which has largely been held in Savusavu.
The Savusavu business community got together to discuss and offer the help of transporting of people from their villages to the vaccination sites around the province.
In a statement, they said this was in solidarity with other partners to get everyone vaccinated.
“Local carriers are going out to the distant villages to bring people into the remote community health centres: their fuel costs will be met as part of this effort,” they said.
“Savusavu’s business community is rallying to support the rollout of the vaccination campaign in Cakaudrove, supplying extra computer tablets for the Ministry of Health and Medical Services, and fuel and transport for the teams to get to the rural communities. With an adult population of 21,000, approximately 6,000 doses of the vaccine have been administered so far, mainly in Savusavu – but the challenge is to get out to the far-flung communities of the Province,” the statement said. “The cost of bus fares into town can be as much as $11 each way, which is a heavy financial burden for many village residents, and the journey can take up to three hours so the business community is supporting the Provincial Administrator and the MHMS to take the vaccines out to the people.”
As of Thursday 1 July, 21.5% of Cakaudrove’s target adult population have received the first dose of the AstraZeneca vaccine, 44.8% coverage in Macuata, 19.2% in Bua and 31.4% in Taveuni. Across Fiji, the country’s has managed to vaccinate more than 50% of its target adult population.
Photo: Vaccination Drive at Khemendra Primary School in Savusavu last week. Courtesy of Lusi Banuve-Leqa
