Over 100 Suva City Council officers have received their first dose of the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine at the Civic Centre in Suva this morning.

SCC Chair Isikeli Tikoduadua says their officers are among essential service providers working around the clock to ensure smooth operations.

Tikoduadua adds this is particularly for those who oversee operations at the bus station and the market area.

“We are essential service and we got about 600 staff, some have got the jab already. Now we want to ensure that everyone has the jab and that’s why today we are thankful they are here. So what we doing now is we getting our people to get their jab on a department by department basis.”

SCC employee, Kesaia Rokosena says she initially hesitated to receive the vaccine but has realized its importance to Fiji’s path out of the pandemic.

“I didn’t want to get this vaccination. But I think at the very last moment, I just realized that we needs to have this vaccination. My advice to everyone out there is to never get disappointed by or listen to all these negative comments on Facebook or what is going on around us.”

Tikoduadua says Fijians must not believe rumours on social media about the vaccine.

More than 218,000 people have at least received their first jab, and the figure will increase over the next few days.