DILI, 30 may 2022 (TATOLI) – The Australian Government and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) have provided around 150 doses of Pfizer vaccine to the Ministry of Health to deal with the country’s COVID-19 crisis.
The Director of Autonomous Services Procurement for Medicines and Medical Equipment (SAMES), Nelson da Costa Correia, said that the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs (DFAT) supported UNICEF with a thousand USD to transport the vaccine.
“On May 28, we received 149,760 doses of Pfizer vaccine and we have distributed several doses to all health units across the country”, said Nelson da Costa Correia to Tatoli in Campo Alor, Dili.
UNICEF Representative in Timor-Leste, Bilal Durrani, also highlighted the need to support the Timor-Leste in the fight against the new coronavirus.
“We are delighted to be working with the Australian Government to prevent this infectious disease, including providing protective vaccines for the most vulnerable people,” he stressed.
It should be noted that the country has received more than one million doses of vaccine administered by the Covax, Australia, New Zealand, Portugal, Japan, China, and the United States.
The vaccination rate against the new coronavirus, as of yesterday, 85.3% of the population had taken the first dose, while 73.3% had completed their vaccination.
The report received by 11.8% of the population represents the dose required for immunity to the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus.
Timor-Leste enrolled 79.4% of students with the first dose of vaccine, of whom 57.7% were fully vaccinated.
Journalist: Isaura Lemos
Editor: Maria Auxiliadora
Translation: José Belarmino de Sa
