Results for Health

Smoking causes 8 million deaths a year, and now smokers have a greater risk of developing a severe case and dying from COVID-19, says the World Health Organization (WHO) today on World No Tobacco Day, drawing attention to the dangers of using tobacco, and the preventable death and disease it causes.

With 28,150 people vaccinated to date, only 40 vials (less than 480 doses) of the COVID-19 vaccine remain to be administered before the batch expires on 31 May, the Ministry of Health said today.

Tonga has received a grant of NZ$1.6M from New Zealand on 25 May, for construction of a new central pharmacy warehouse to assist Tonga's COVID-19 preparedness and response activities.

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) will provide Tonga with a $5.5 million grant to support the rollout of safe and effective vaccines against COVID-19.

With only 5,000 to 6,000 of the first doses of the COVID-19 vaccine remaining, people aged 30 years and over are now eligible to be vaccinated, health officials announced this morning. ‘Eua is receiving 2,000 of those doses and the rest will be available in Tongatapu for first come, first served. No date has been confirmed for inoculating the remainder of the population, due to a limited supply of vaccines worldwide.

Around 19,200 doses of the COVID-19 AstraZeneca vaccine arrived on an Air New Zealand cargo flight in Tonga this afternoon, confirmed Ministry of Health Acting CEO, Dr Reynold ‘Ofanoa. These are for the second doses of people who have been innocculated. So far, over 20,000 people in Tonga have received their first shots.

Plans for repatriated passengers to start paying for their quarantine starting on 28 July is underway, confirmed MEIDECC CEO Paula Ma’u today.

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.

A group of around 40 Tongans who returned from the United States via Fiji are being assisted financially by the Tongan Government, after their repatriation flight to Tonga was postponed, due to the rising COVID-19 community transmission there.