Fiji can win the “war” against the COVID-19 pandemic because there are vaccines enough for every adult in the country.
Attorney-General and Minister for Economy Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum made this comment in his national budget address in Parliament last night, saying despite the darkness and difficulty of the present outbreak, the Government had its “clearest view of a future that is safe and an economy that is on the move”.
He said the Government was not dispensing band-aid solutions or depending on drastic and damaging measures that would cause structural unemployment and wide-scale poverty.
“We are no longer fighting to win a single battle against this virus – we are fighting to win the war. And we can win, because we have vaccines, enough for every adult in Fiji,” Mr Sayed-Khaiyum said.
“This powerful defence has arrived more quickly than we dared to hope.”
Mr Sayed-Khaiyum noted that as of Thursday, July 15, 64 per cent of the target population – 377,090 adults – had received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine; and 12.5 per cent of the target population fully-vaccinated with both doses.
“We cannot take that progress for granted when less than 30 per cent of the populations of other upper-middle-income countries, like Fiji, have received a vaccine dose.
“And when – due to unjust issues of accessibility – some wealthier nations administer more vaccines in a single day than other low income countries have administered since the start of the pandemic.
“And we thank India for our first large shipment, and then Australia and New Zealand for helping expedite our access to free vaccines for our people.”
The A-G said Australian and New Zealand medical teams were now in the country, sharing their invaluable supplies, knowledge, skills and experience to save the lives of Fijians.
“We thank them for being such indispensable allies.”
He reassured the safety of the vaccines saying it worked remarkably, and that it was the key to reopening the local economy to its full capacity.
“And we are pressing ahead quickly to vaccinate every eligible Fijian, which we view clearly as the most essential element to protect ourselves and pave the way to a sustainable and COVID-safe economy and way of life.”
