Savaii Achieved 96% First Dose Vaccinations for Children 5-11 Years in Two Days
The vaccinations of children aged 5-11 years rolled out in Savaii this past week has proven immensely successful, with 96% of children on the Big Island now all with first doses of Pfizer.
This was confirmed by the Acting Director General of Health, Tagaloa Dr Robert Thompsen during a Saturday afternoon online press conference with local media.
“The good news from Savaii is, we have achieved 96%,” said Tagaloa. “That means 96% of children aged 5 to 11 have received their first dose.”
Dr Thompsen said the healthcare workers and vaccination teams leading the programme in Savaii should be commended for the great effort in just two days.
The Savaii team had set up 11 drive-thru vaccination sites in five different regions, to cover the Big Island. Cars were pictured from Savaii, lined up from as early as 6am.
The drive-thrus allowed families to bring their children to be vaccinated without unnecessary exposure to the virus.
Latest numbers issued on Saturday night by the Ministry of Health has Savaii at just 27 cases since the covid community outbreak.
The children of Samoa are receiving the two-dose Pfizer vaccine. The programme for children 12 to 17 years was rolled out through high schools, before the 2021 school year ended.
The programme for children 5-11 years began with primary schools in Upolu, and was near completion when the first Covid-19 community case was detected last Thursday.
Tagaloa also confirmed at the press conference that additional Pfizer doses are expected to arrive into the country this coming week.
(0)
