{"id":3041,"date":"2020-12-19T20:03:37","date_gmt":"2020-12-19T20:03:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.radiofree.org\/?p=141367"},"modified":"2020-12-19T20:03:37","modified_gmt":"2020-12-19T20:03:37","slug":"covid-19-vaccine-roll-out-starts-in-parts-of-the-pacific","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/2020\/12\/19\/covid-19-vaccine-roll-out-starts-in-parts-of-the-pacific\/","title":{"rendered":"Covid-19 vaccine roll out starts in parts of the Pacific"},"content":{"rendered":"
By Sela Jane Hopgood, RNZ Pacific<\/a> journalist<\/em><\/p>\n Covid-19 vaccinations begin in the Northern Mariana Islands this weekend, but it is not yet clear when other Pacific countries will have access to a vaccine.<\/p>\n The Northern Marianas, which is a US territory, was expecting 5,000 doses of the The Pfizer\/BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine to arrive during the week, and vaccinations to start today, RNZ Pacific correspondent Mark Rabago said.<\/p>\n The vaccine had already been approved in the USA and UK. It must be stored at around -70C, and transported in special boxes, packed in dry ice.<\/p>\n Once delivered, it can be kept for up to five days in a fridge.<\/p>\n \u201cA couple of weeks ago our government purchased and received 10 ultra cold freezers. The freezers we ordered came from South Korea, and we have two sent to Tinian and Rota and the rest will be used in Saipan,\u201d Rabago said.<\/p>\n The country had already been sent a \u201cmock package\u201d of the vaccine as a trail, from the US federal government, to test the systems they had in place to transport and store it, which went well, he said.<\/p>\n \u201cThere is a first-priority group that will receive the vaccine first and they are the healthcare workers, first responders, high-risk patients and seniors.<\/p>\n Congressman and Northern Mariana Islander Gregorio Kilili Camacho Sablan, had volunteered to be injected in public, and the governor Ralph Deleon Guerrero Torres also said he and his family were available to be vaccinated to demonstrate confidence in the vaccine, if they were asked to.<\/p>\n NZ offers vaccines to six Pacific countries Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern made the announcement this week<\/a>, saying that if the vaccines are proven to be safe and effective, then the government\u2019s first priority will be to vaccinate border workers, essential staff and their household contacts.<\/p>\n The arrangements are for 750,000 courses of vaccines from Pfizer\/BioNTech, 5m from Janssen, 3.8m from AstraZeneca and 5.36m from Novava.<\/p>\n And Minister for Foreign Affairs Nanaia Mahuta said $75 million of development assistance had been set aside to support global access to the vaccines, and roll-out.<\/p>\n
<\/strong>New Zealand now has agreements in place to secure enough vaccines to vaccinate everyone in the country, as well as everyone in Samoa, Tonga, Tuvalu, Tokelau, Niue, and the Cook Islands, if the governments of those countries accept the offer.<\/p>\n