Fiji’s Ministry of Health is reiterating calls to eligible persons to take up their booster COVID-19 vaccine doses if they have not already.
The calls come in light of evidence that prior infection with a non-Omicron variant or the Omicron sublineages that are in circulation in Fiji may not protect against infection with sublineages that are dominant in some other countries.
According to the ministry, the latest genomics sequencing results show that Omicron sublineages BA.1 and BA.2 are in circulation in Fiji, while BA.4 and BA.5 have not yet been detected.
“This means that, once these sublineages enter the community, it is expected that people may get infected, even if they have been infected before; and while the risk of severe disease is expected to remain low in those who have had 2 doses and have no underlying illnesses, increased sickness may still have a negative impact on the workforce,” the ministry said in its latest COVID-19 update.
“And people with underlying conditions like diabetes, heart disease, kidney disease etc. will continue to be at higher risk of severe disease and death.
“These considerations, and the current noticeable increase in cases, indicate an urgency to increase our efforts to increase booster dose coverage.”
In order to optimise coverage, the ministry has embarked on a booster campaign aimed to administer 250,000 doses of Pfizer vaccine to those who have completed the primary series (doses 1 and 2) > 3 months prior but have not yet received a booster dose. This requires a minimum of 32,000 doses to be administered weekly for eight weeks from 1 June to 31 July 2022.
The efforts have been boosted by the return of most of the ministry’s medical immunisation staff.
COVID-19 booster priority populations are;
- Persons over the age of 18 years who have completed their primary series > 3 months prior can receive their 1st booster dose
- Immunocompromised persons and those over the age of 60 years who had received the 3rd booster dose, may receive the 4th dose after a period of 4 months
- Health care workers, port staff, tourism and others who wish to receive a 2nd booster dose may receive it after an interval of 4 months from their first booster dose.
- Anyone over the age of 18 years who has taken their 1st booster dose can receive a 2nd booster dose after an interval of 4 months.
