The Ministry of Health has reiterated that they expect decreasing immunity from the two doses of vaccines as well as decreasing post-infection acquired immunity over time.

Permanent Secretary for Health, Doctor James Fong says as of yesterday a total of 114,144 individuals have so far received booster doses.

Dr Fong says while members of the public have been advised to obtain their booster dose after at least 5 months from their second COVID-19 vaccine dose, they will shortly be advising a shorter interval period in recognition of the risk of disease surge.

He adds that the Moderna vaccine and Pfizer vaccines are both available for adult booster doses.

“They need to be aware that nothing is over. We’ve opened our borders, there is an escalation of cases in Europe, China, New Zealand and Australia and we need people to get a booster dose that we can reduce the risk of future surges, in terms of severe disease and hospitalization, and severe public health measures.”

Dr Fong says their current booster program has been slowed down by slower uptake and deployment challenges relating to the need to deal with the current surge of leptospirosis, typhoid, dengue fever, and influenza we are facing Fiji-wide.

The Permanent Secretary says they will continue to monitor the evidence on post-infection immunity based on quality data that is being generated globally.

However, Dr Fong says until they have a better sense of the role of post-infection immunity, the Ministry of Health will continue to define Fiji’s level of protection based on vaccination numbers