Health Situation Reports

HIGHLIGHTS

• Two active cases of COVID-19 detected in a quarantine facility on 24 October 2021 remain in isolation at Vila Central Hospital. Samples sent to Doherty Institute in Australia confirmed that both cases are the COVID-19 Delta variant.
• No other active cases of COVID-19 have been detected. Contact tracing found no evidence of breaches of quarantine procedures. 20 frontline workers quarantined as a precautionary measure were released from quarantine. The 16 passengers on the same flight from Noumea were released from quarantine after 14-days based on PCR negative tests on days 2, 5, 11 and 14 of quarantine.
• So far, 198,000 doses of COVID-19 vaccines have been received in Vanuatu, comprising 48,000 AstraZeneca doses through the COVAX Facility, 100,000 Sinopharm doses received from the Chinese Government and 50,000 AstraZeneca doses received from the Australian Government.
• Vaccine roll-out is now ongoing in all six provinces after commencing in the final province of Torba on 11 November 2021. Vaccines are prioritised to health workers, front line workers (e.g. border workers, quarantine facility staff, public transport drivers), the elderly (55 and over), and people 35 and over with existing medical conditions.
• Up until 14 November 2021, there were 129,568 COVID-19 doses administered in Vanuatu. A total of 89,472 people received at least one dose of AstraZeneca or Sinopharm and 40,110 people have received two doses and are considered fully vaccinated.
• There have been 405 adverse events following COVID-19 immunization notified in Vanuatu. The vast majority have been mild to moderate side-effects reported via the dial-in line. 16 have been classified as serious adverse events and have required investigation. Of these, 15 required a causality assessment. 10 were confirmed to be coincidental, 1 was immunization anxiety-related and 2 were indeterminate (due to conflicting trends).
• For 2 patients who became ill after being administered with a COVID-19 vaccine, the Ministry of Health National Vaccine Safety Expert Advisory Group concluded that for these two serious AEFI there was a causal association with immunization, and therefore both were classified as vaccine-product related reactions. These are the two first serious AEFIs confirmed to be related to a COVID-19 vaccine product administered in Vanuatu.
• As of 25 October 2021, Efate and Offshore Islands are considered to be at Alert Level 1: Medium due to cases at the border. There is no indication of any cases in the community or any community transmission. The rest of Vanuatu remains at Alert Level 0: Low risk.
• Everyone is urged to refer to official information sources and avoid rumours. Updates will be communicated via the COVID-19 website: www.covid19.gov.vu