COVID-19 Booster dose announced

By Talaia Mika

APIA, SAMOA – 12 JANUARY 2022: A booster dose, technically the third dose for Covid-19 has been announced to be carried out this year for people who have been fully vaccinated, the National Emergency Operations Committee confirmed.

“This is only for people who completed both doses of Covid-19; so if you haven’t then you’re not eligible to take the booster dose,” said Leausa Dr. Take Naseri, the Director General of Health.

“There might be a campaign for this dose during this first term from January to March.”

Currently, only 86 percent of the eligible population have completed two doses of Covid-19.

A vaccine is also in place and ready to be administered for 5-12 year-olds by the end of the month, possibly when schools return from the holiday break.

NEOC Chairman, Agafili Shem Leo appealed for the public to cooperate in keeping Samoa safe by taking doses of Covid-19 especially for people who have not taken any jabs.

“The 10 percent who have not taken any jabs of Covid-19 vaccines may put everyone at risk and we don’t even know if they have any other pre-conditions like diabetes and high blood pressure or heart disease, so we urge our nation to cooperate,” Agafili said.

Some in the 10 percent of the unvaccinated refuse and have other reasons not to get vaccinated.

“On the night when we announced our recent Covid-19 positive case, those were the first people to call the NEOC office asking about the risks to them who have not been vaccinated,” said Agafili.

“So they have the mentality of wanting to stay protected, but don’t want to get vaccinated where they can get protection from the virus,” he added.

Asked whether there will be another mass vaccination campaign this year for the remaining 10 percent, the Director General of Health, Leausa Dr. Take Naseri said no more.

“We’ll leave it to their own will if they want to stay protected or not because we’ve tried every possible way especially our campaigns but they still wouldn’t cooperate,” he added.

NEOC reminded that of Fiji’s recent Covid-19 death cases of, three to four of those cases were people who were not vaccinated.

Samoa’s last Covid-19 positive case was a male who transited through Hawaii and Fiji and landed in Samoa on the 9 December 2021 repatriation flight.

He has fully recovered after extra days in quarantine and was released to his family earlier this month.

Of the hundred and thirty four passengers he arrived with, twenty six who were seated close to him on the aircraft were also tested and kept under observation and have all been released after returning negative results.