COVID-19 AstraZeneca vaccine arrives Friday 

Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare said the country needs approximately one million doses of covid-19 vaccines to cover its population.

“Only people above eighteen years of age will take the vaccine.”

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Sogavare said, in addition to AstraZeneca vaccines by the COVAX facility, the People’s Republic of China will also provide twenty thousand doses of Sinopharm vaccines to the Solomon Islands.

“If the current trials on children confirm that children can also be vaccinated, we estimate an additional 600,000 doses will be required to vaccinate the whole population of Solomon Islands,” Sogavare said.

While COVID-19 vaccination is not mandatory, the Government intends to vaccinate every citizen over 18 years and older by the end of 2021.

Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare will take the first AstraZeneca Vaccines once the vaccines arrive and the rollout program starts.

The Ministry of Health is yet to finalize the rollout program plans for the provinces.