COVID-19 Vaccine

The news was released as part of a campaign to increase vaccination rates, especially of boosters.

The deputy head of China's National Health Commission, Zeng Yixin, said it showed the leadership's confidence in the Chinese vaccines.

Health information about these figures is not usually shared with the public.

Mr Zeng said the country's leaders had "all taken the home-grown Covid-19 vaccination jabs".

The Foreign Affairs Minister Nanaia Mahuta said the latest donation to COVAX will also support vaccination programmes in developing countries, including in parts of the Pacific and in Africa where immunisation rates are low.

New Zealand is contributing a further 7.3 million vaccines to COVAX including 5.8 million doses of AstraZeneca vaccine and 1.5 million doses of Janssen vaccine.

Through New Zealand's Advance Purchase Agreement (APA) with Pfizer, paediatric vaccine doses are also being provided to countries in Polynesia.

The FDA had planned to decide on the vaccine based on early trial data as soon as next week with the government planning to roll it out on 21 February. It had asked Pfizer to speed up its application as the Omicron variant of the coronavirus caused a surge of infections, including among children.

On Friday, the agency said it had reviewed new trial information that arrived after Pfizer and BioNTech's request for emergency authorisation and decided it needed more data before weighing in on the authorisation.

This week Australia provided 5,850 doses of Pfizer vaccine to Nauru as part of a multi million dollar partnership with UNICEF to procure up to 20 million vaccines for partner countries in the Pacific and Southeast Asia by the end of 2022.

Nauru's Minister for Health, Isabella Dageago, said the country had vaccinated 97 per cent of its adult population against COVID-19.

She said this latest batch will allow the island to protect its children from the disease, which she called a significant step toward fully opening Nauru to the world.

The Minister for International Development and the Pacific Zed Seselja told parliament this was one of the reasons why assistance to the Pacific remains critical.

He said on pandemic response, Australia had fronted up with COVID-19 vaccines.

"We have now gifted over 2.1 million life-saving vaccines to our neighbourhood. Because until everyone is safe from COVID, nobody is safe.

"And similarly, hundreds of thousands of Australian jobs depend on strong economic growth across our region."

Suga’s announcement came as leaders of Japan and Pacific island nations and territories held an online meeting Friday, with Tokyo aiming to promote its “Free and Open Indo-Pacific Strategy” in an apparent effort to counter China’s growing influence in the region.

In the virtual meeting, Japan also pledged assistance to help Pacific countries recover from the coronavirus pandemic by strengthening health care and medical systems, providing economic relief, and improving infrastructure facilities among other measures, according to government officials.

This equates to 45 per cent of Nauru’s total adult population.

But there are still 3,500 people who have not been vaccinated and there is only one week left to do so. The urgency and importance to get vaccinated cannot be stressed enough.

Nauru has protocols in place to stop the virus (capture & contain policy) but we, the people, Nauruans and foreigners, need to do our part.

The vaccine is available for everyone in Nauru. Go to any of the vaccination centres at Public Health, Menen hall, and sports complex, from 10am to 7pm, to get your shot.

Two-thirds of the previous age group - 45 to 49-year-olds - have received their first dose.

The NHS said it would set out when 40 to 43-year-olds would be able to book appointments "in the coming days", as supply allows.

It comes as a TV advert is launched to encourage under-50s to get vaccinated.

The total number of vaccine doses given in the UK reached almost 46.3 million on Sunday, with a further 498,430 second doses and 142,215 first doses reported.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said six cases in 6.8 million doses had been reported and it was acting "out of an abundance of caution".

Following the news, South Africa, the first country to use the jab, said it would suspend its rollout.

Johnson & Johnson said it would also delay its vaccine drive in Europe.

The US move follows similar rare cases in the AstraZeneca vaccine, which has prompted some curbs in its use.

It comes after a robust assessment of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine’s safety, effectiveness and quality by medicines regulator Medsafe.

Covid-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins says the first phase of rolling out the vaccine can now begin.

“Following Medsafe’s approval, Ministry of Health officials will give advice to the Government this week about the ‘decision to use’ the vaccine. This will essentially set out who are most suited to receive the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine, such as age ranges.”