With only 60% of the first batch of Tonga's COVID-19 vaccines used as of this morning, 7 May, Tonga's Ministry of Health is extending the vaccination program to next week, 10-11 May at various venues. They confirmed that people from the outer islands who are currently in Tongatapu can get vaccinated here. Vaccinations are averaging over 900 per day.
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Results for Health
Friday 7 May 2021
Nuku'alofa, Tonga
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Thursday 29 April 2021
London, United Kingdom
People who have been vaccinated with a single dose of either the Oxford-AstraZeneca or Pfizer-BioNTech vaccines were 65% less likely to get a new Covid infection, a UK study has found. The chances of becoming infected by COVID (SARS-CoV-2) fell sharply after a first dose. However, some people can still get Covid after being vaccinated but the ongoing transmission is reduced.
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Wednesday 28 April 2021
New Delhi, India
New York Times reporting: Crematories are so full of bodies, it’s as if a war just happened. Fires burn around the clock. Many places are holding mass cremations, dozens at a time, and at night, in certain areas of New Delhi, the sky glows. Sickness and death are everywhere. India is recording more infections per day — as many as 350,000 — than any other country has since the pandemic began. What we had been fearing during last year’s first wave, and which never really materialized, is now happening in front of our eyes: a breakdown, a collapse, a realization that so many people will die. By Jeffrey Gettleman.
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Tuesday 20 April 2021
Nuku'alofa, Tonga
A total of 78 locations across Tongatapu where people can get vaccinated for COVID-19 on set dates were confirmed by the Ministry of Health today. The vaccination program, which started on 19 April in Kolomotu'a, will run up to next month ending at ‘Atata Island on 8 May.
Friday 9 April 2021
Nuku'alofa, Tonga
The roll out of Tonga’s COVID-19 vaccination program starts next week on Thursday April 15 in Tongatapu, with frontline workers the first to receive their shots at Falemasiva Hall, said the Minister of Health Hon Dr 'Amelia Tu'ipulotu today. The Ministry expects to vaccinate around 2,200 people from April 15-17
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Wednesday 31 March 2021
Nuku'alofa, Tonga
The first batch of the COVID-19 AstraZeneca-Oxford vaccines from COVAX arrived in Tonga today, 31 March, on a repatriation flight from Auckland, New Zealand.
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Monday 29 March 2021
Suva, Fiji
US$9 million was contributed by the Government of Japan to UNICEF to strengthen the vaccine cold chain and capacity to address the threat of the COVID-19 pandemic in 10 Pacific Islands, including Tonga.
Thursday 25 March 2021
Nuku'alofa, Tonga
Tonga’s Minister of Health said she was shocked by a report on adolescent unplanned pregnancy in Tonga, launched today, “because I did not know that young girls can take their own lives because they find out they are pregnant. ...We cannot continue that into the future!” The country report presented recommendations for long-term changes that need to happen.
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Friday 19 March 2021
Wellington, New Zealand
New Zealand is providing support to Papua New Guinea following a surge in COVID-19 cases and deaths, the New Zealand Foreign Minister Nanaia Mahuta has announced. A New Zealand Defence Force flight is scheduled to deliver PPE from Auckland to Port Moresby on Saturday. By today, 19 March, PNG has reported 2479 cases with 31 deaths.
Wednesday 24 February 2021
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Vaccinating the world against COVID-19 is one of mankind’s most critical non-wartime efforts ever. Many countries have developed ambitious, politically sensitive, and carefully sequenced vaccination plans, but executing them successfully will be a challenge. To succeed, policymakers should build three realistic assumptions into their vaccination planning for 2021 and beyond. First, delays are inevitable. By Swee Kheng Khor
Thursday 18 February 2021
Canberra, Australia
Australia plans to start the roll out of the Pfizer/BioNTech CoViD-19 vaccine next week to the first and most vulnerable Australians from 22 February.
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Tuesday 16 February 2021
New York, USA
New York Times reporting: The World Health Organization on Monday authorized the use of the AstraZeneca-Oxford vaccine, clearing a path for the cheap and easy-to-store shots to be distributed in lower- and middle-income countries around the world.
Saturday 6 February 2021
Nuku'alofa, Tonga
The COVAX Initiative expects to release first doses of the Pfizer/BioNTec vaccine and the AstraZeneca/Oxford vaccine during the first half of 2021 to COVAX Facility participants. Twelve South Pacific countries are included in its first “interim distribution forecast” that targets at least 3% of their populations.
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Wednesday 16 December 2020
New York, USA
New York Times reporting: While many poor nations may be able to vaccinate at most 20% of their populations in 2021, some of the world’s richest countries have reserved enough doses to immunize their own multiple times over. “The high-income countries have gotten to the front of the line and cleared the shelves,” said Andrea Taylor, a Duke researcher who is studying the coronavirus vaccines contracts. But the outlook for most of the developing world is dire. Because of manufacturing limits, it could take until 2024 for many low-income countries to obtain enough vaccines to fully immunize their populations.
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Monday 14 December 2020
Nuku'alofa, Tonga
All 157 repatriates from Fiji on 10 December have tested negative for CoViD-19, confirmed Tonga's Chief Medical Officer (Public Health) Dr Reynold 'Ofanoa today.
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Sunday 6 December 2020
Suva, Fiji
Two crew members of the cargo ship MV Island Chief that arrived in Fiji on 2 December 2020 have tested positive for COVID-19 and are in isolation at the Navua Hospital. Fiji officials who boarded the vessel and their close contacts are also in quarantine, Fiji's Dr James Fong said today. The vessel's last port of call was Nuku'alofa in Tonga on 30 November,
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Sunday 6 December 2020
Wellington, New Zealand
New Zealand Army Unimog truck parts, for His Majesty’s Armed Forces, and personal protective equipment (PPE), including medical gowns, were delivered to Tonga on 4 December, by an RNZAF Hercules.
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Thursday 19 November 2020
New York, USA
New York Times reporting: The United States passed a grim milestone Wednesday, hitting 250,000 coronavirus-related deaths, with the number expected to keep climbing steeply as infections surge nationwide. Experts predict that the country could soon be reporting 2,000 deaths a day or more.
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Monday 16 November 2020
Nuku'alofa, Tonga
The 252 repatriated passengers from Auckland and Brisbane have been released from quarantine after testing negative for CoViD-19 confirmed Dr Siale ‘Akau’ola on Saturday evening, 14 November. Two more flights are due to arrive from Auckland on 19 November, and from Brisbane on 24 November.
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Monday 26 October 2020
Nuku'alofa, Tonga
All 141 passengers repatriated from Christchurch, New Zealand earlier this month have tested negative for CoViD-19 confirmed Ministry of Health CEO Dr Siale ‘Akau’ola today. Another 230 repatriated passengers are expected to arrive later this week from Brisbane and Auckland.
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