Fijian secondary school students eligible to get their first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine have been volunteering to get their jabs in Naviti, Yasawa where increasing cases have forced an interisland lockdown for several weeks.
District spokesman Meciusela Vuli said they had been working closely with teams from the Ministry of Health and Medical Services on the mass vaccination of villagers which included teenagers.
“For the village of Marou, there was awareness done for parents and guardians about the vaccine and who can get it,” he said.
“Many of them allowed their children to get it.
“Some of our teenagers who are 17 and 18 came forward to get the vaccine so that is very encouraging.”
He said while there was a group of villagers that had turned away from vaccination, others had been more receptive.
“So far, we are at 30 per cent and we hope that more come forward.
“Now that we have the teams from the Ministry of Health, we hope that we can keep creating that awareness for our people.”
Yesterday, online registration of eligible children went live on Government’s Vaccine Registry Portal.
In an announcement earlier this week, Ministry of Health permanent secretary Doctor James Fong said it was important for parents to register their children online before they received their first dose of the Moderna vaccine.
