Government of Timor-Leste

Prime Minister, Taur Matan Ruak, accompanied by his wife, Isabel da Costa Ferreira, received the second dose of the AstraZeneca vaccine against COVID-19, on June 18^th, at his official residence, in Farol neighbourhood, in Dili.

The Chief Executive reminded that “those who receive the two doses of the vaccine can move freely between municipalities without having to take a test” to COVID-19, they only need to present proof of full vaccination.

The Prime-Minister called for “the maximum participation of citizens in the vaccination campaign”, because “first of all, it allows lives to be saved” and “secondly, it allows us to return to normality, so that we can recover our economy. 

The Prime Minister also took the opportunity to “salute the health professionals, PNTL and F-FDTL institutions, volunteers, non-governmental organizations and all those involved in the national vaccination campaign against COVID-19.”

The Head of the Government also expressed his satisfaction for the increase in the number of vaccines administered and assured that the Government is making all efforts to soon be able to receive vaccines for those under 18 years old.

Taur Matan Ruak was the first person in the country to receive the initial dose of the vaccine, last April 7^th, at the launch of the vaccination campaign against COVID-19.

 Since that day, until June 20^th, at a national level, a total of 127,074 people have received the first dose of the vaccine, equivalent to 16,8 per cent of the population over 18 years of age. More than 17,000 people have already completed the vaccination, which corresponds to 2.25 per cent of the population.

In Dili, 96,645 people, e.g. 45. per cent of the adult population of this municipality, have already received the first dose of the vaccine, and 9,208 people, or 4.31 per cent, have completed the vaccination with the two doses.

COVID-19 is transmitted by a new coronavirus, first detected in late December 2019, in Wuhan, China.

In Timor-Leste, out of the 8,707 confirmed cases of infection, 19 people died, according to data presented on June 20^th, by the situation room of the Integrated Crisis Management Centre officials.

Since the start of the pandemic, the new coronavirus has infected more than 179 million people worldwide and caused the deaths of more than 3.8 million.