THE Australia High Commission to Solomon Islands His Excellency Dr Lachlan Strahan has official handing over of the 13,000 AstraZeneca vaccines to Solomon Islands Government, Wednesday.
During the handing over ceremony at the National Medical Store, High Commission Strahan said the 13,000 doses are part of the 60,000 pledged by his country which was produced in Melbourne as announced last month.
This is to support the country in fighting against the deadly global pandemic.
Dr. Strahan has commended the government on how it has managed the Covid-19 so far.
He said the Solomon Island government has done a tremendous job by keeping Covid-19 off the country, and is one of the few countries in the world that there is no community transmission recorded.
However, with what have happened to other countries, he encourages all Solomon Islanders to take the vaccine.
Minister of Health and Medical Services (MHMS), Dr. Culwick Togamana who is also part of the event said the occasion had marked another milestone for the country in its endeavour to vaccinate all our eligible population with the Covid-19 vaccines.
“It is indeed my honour as the Minister of Health to receive on behalf of the government and the people of Solomon Islands an additional 13,000 doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine, generously provided by the government and people of Australia.”
Dr. Togamana said despite Australia having to deal with over 30,000 of Covid-19 positive cases with over 900 deaths they have manage to find a space in their heart to support us in our endeavour to vaccinate our population.
This is a clear demonstration of the genuine friendship and partnership between our countries,” he said.
Australia is now amongst a number of countries around the world to be producing Covid-19 AstraZeneca vaccine, thus it gives sense of assurance and security that we will overcome the current challenge of vaccinating our eligible population.
By FOLLET JOHN
Newsroom, Honiara
