BY ALEX DADAMU
The Ministry of Health’s Technical Working Group will be making recommendations on the rollout of the Pfizer vaccines shortly.
Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare revealed this when speaking at his forthnight nationwide address on Tuesday 7th September.
The Prime Minister said Pfizer vaccine has been approved for use in Solomon Islands by the National Medicines and Therapeutic Committee.
“Our initial target population is for children between 12 and 18 years old and for pregnant women. It can also be used for people that are not able to take either of the AstraZeneca or Sinopharm vaccines,” He said.
PM Sogavare said the vaccine policy for Solomon Islands is being updated to incorporate the Pfizer vaccine after which it will be presented to the national Cabinet.
He said Pfizer vaccines require a much lower temperature requirement for safe storage.
“Our health team is working on our storage capacity and will be conducting training for health workers on the administration of the vaccine soon. We will provide further updates on the rollout of the Pfizer vaccines as we progress,” Prime Minister Sogavare said.
He expressed that complete vaccination of the eligible target population is currently the only proven and most effective and efficient way to prevent, contain, and control the transmission of COVID-19, in particular the rapidly spreading lethal Delta variant.
“If we fully vaccinate our target population of 417, 327 people, we will be able to reduce the ability of the virus to infect and spread among our communities if it comes to Solomon Islands,” Prime Minister Sogavare said.
