PM hopeful of vaccinating entire population against COVID-19 by end of 2021

Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare this afternoon states that he hopes the country’s whole population will be vaccinated against COVID-19 by the end of 2021.

In his first nationwide COVID-19 address for 2021, Sogavare has also revealed that about 0.25% of the population should be vaccinated in the next couple of months.

According to Sogavare, Solomon Islands is among the countries that will benefit from a new COVID-19 Vaccination initiative called the COVAX Facility.

“My government submitted our country’s request to GAVI – the Global Alliance on Vaccines and Immunisation, which is the global health agency that co-leads the COVAX Facility on 7^th  December 2020. Through the COVAX facility, participating eligible countries such as the Solomon Islands will receive an initial COVID-19 vaccine to cover 20 percent of its population free. Countries are then able to co-finance the remaining doses with GAVI.

“My government has agreed to increase the vaccine coverage through the COVAX Facility to 50% of the population through a co-financing arrangement. We will secure the balance of the other 50% of the population through bilateral and other multi-lateral arrangements with our development partners,” he said in his national address.

Solomon Islands has so far recorded 17 positive cases of COVID-19.

Sogavare said in-order to qualify under the COVAX Facility, the government has established a high-level National Coordinating Committee required for the COVAX Facility and it is jointly chaired by the Permanent Secretaries of Health and Finance to drive the development and deployment of a COVID-19 vaccination plan in Solomon Islands.

Sogavare said the National Coordinating Committee is supported by a Technical Working Group for COVAX which also co-chaired by the Ministries of Health and Finance with membership including our development partners – namely Australia, New Zealand, Peoples Republic of China, WHO, UNICEF, and the World Bank.

The PM said: “I am happy to inform you that the Technical Working Group has developed the ‘Draft National Deployment and Vaccination Plan for COVID-19 Vaccines’ which will be further deliberated by the national coordinating committee and the oversight committee before presentation to my Cabinet for approval. We anticipate receiving this plan by the end of January 2021.”

The Technical working group is currently reviewing available scientific information on the leading vaccines that have been certified by WHO, or used by countries under Emergency Use Authorisation, or are currently in Phase-3 development, including those that are likely to come through the COVAX Facility.

Based on their assessment the working group will recommend which vaccines Solomon Islands might consider for its implementation.

Sogavare said: “We also anticipate receiving this recommendation by the end of January 2021.”

Meanwhile he said: “We have also received advice that the COVAX Facility is planning to deploy enough doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccines to cover 0.25% of the population of its eligible countries in the first quarter of 2021. For Solomon Islands this equates to approximately 1,700 people.”

Sogavare said the government will be submitting its proposal to secure this allocation by the closing date of 18 January 2021.

“We anticipate a decision on the approval of vaccines to be conveyed to us by end of January with a likely deployment date for the first batch of vaccines in February or March 2021,” he told the country in his address.

The technical working group and national coordinating committee are finalising the specific execution plan for the first 1,700 vaccines to be included in our proposal to be submitted on 18^th January 2021.

Sogavare said: “Let me assure you that our work to benefit fully from COVID-19 vaccines is on track and we look forward to receiving the first doses of vaccines to cover 0.25% of our population in the next couple of months.

“While we await the advice from our technical working group and the national coordinating committee on the mass roll out of COVID-19 vaccines in the country, it is my hope that we will be able to vaccinate the whole of our population by the end of 2021,” he said.

  News@SBMOnline2021