CORONAVIRUS UPDATE by His Excellency President Lionel Aingimea
CORONAVIRUS UPDATE
by
His Excellency President Lionel
Aingimea
Friday, 30 April 2021
His Excellency President Lionel
Aingimea confirms 3,000 adults on Nauru have received their COVID
vaccine in three weeks. 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.
The last day to take your first
dose is 7 May. The remaining 3,500 adults who have not received the
vaccine have only one week to do so. If you don't get your first
dose by 7 May, you cannot get it when the second dose is rolled out
in June. There is also no guarantee we can secure additional doses
once our supply runs out.
Don't be complacent. It is now
critical that everyone urgently gets their shot and get ahead of
any possible scenario of the virus entering Nauru.
There is some concern and hesitancy
in the community including news of blood clots. There is no
certainty of a connection between blood clots and this vaccine.
While there are news reports and
social media information; the World Health Organisation (WHO)
advises it is safer to be vaccinated than not.
The President reminds the public of
Angam and how the Spanish flu in the 1920s decimated the Nauruan
population; with the absence of a vaccine at the time, it nearly
wiped out the Nauruan race. A vaccine could have prevented such
devastation. The President urges everyone not to allow a repeat of
Angam saying we want to be able to protect all Nauruans and
everyone else living here.
President Aingimea reiterates the
enormity of this virus, and highlighted the rising number of cases
in neighbouring Fiji, with authorities confirming that Fiji now has
the India strain of the virus. India now has over 350,000 confirmed
cases of COVID-19, and averaging 2,500 deaths daily.
While the Government of India put
in appropriate COVID measures, there has not been sufficient public
compliance thus placing the country in the current situation.
The President describes suggestions
of the COVID vaccine containing 'triple six' as "fake news", a
"waste of time and rubbish", with absolutely no conclusive proof
connecting triple six to the vaccine. Instead, you will be
injecting yourself with the vaccine to protect you and Nauru from
coronavirus.
The President urges you not to
listen to YouTube, Facebook or other unreliable sources that stream
a lot of misinformation and fake news about COVID-19.
Church leaders agreed in a recent
meeting with the President that there is no such thing as triple
six in the vaccine. Some church leaders have also advised their
congregation to get vaccinated.
Vaccination is a simple, safe, and
very effective way of protecting us against this harmful disease
and saves lives.
In order to protect yourself and
your family, the best thing to do now is to get vaccinated.
All adults - Nauruans and
foreigners on island, who are one of the 3,500 unvaccinated
individuals, are asked to please take your dose today or by the
7th May.
Be responsible, get vaccinated.
As of 29 April 2021, there have
been 149,216,984 confirmed cases of COVID-19, including 3,144,028
deaths, reported to WHO; and a total of 968,452,196 vaccine doses
have been administered.
The WHO considers that the benefits
of the AstraZeneca vaccine outweigh the risks and recommends that
vaccinations continue.