Meeting of the Council of Ministers on june 9, 2021
Presidency of the Council of Ministers
Eighth Constitutional Government
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Press Release
Meeting of the Council of Ministers on june 9th, 2021
The Council of Ministers met, in the Ministry of Finance Auditorium, in Dili, and after reviewing the presentation of the country’s epidemiological situation, from the Situation Room of the Integrated Centre for Crisis Management (CIGC- acronym in Portuguese) coordinators, approved the draft Government’s Resolution maintaining the imposition of sanitary fence in the municipality of Baucau for another 7 days. The council of ministers decided not to renew the imposition of the sanitary fence in the Municipality of Viqueque. The imposition of sanitary fences in the municipalities of Bobonaro, Covalima and Dili also remains in force.
Thus, the prohibition of movement of people between the Baucau Municipality and the other administrative districts is maintained, except in duly justified cases, for reasons of public security, public health, humanitarian assistance, maintenance of public supply systems, or the achievement of public interest.
The Vice Prime Minister and Minister of Social Solidarity and Inclusion, Armanda Berta dos Santos and the members of the Interministerial Commission for the Preparation and Coordination of the Execution of the Vaccination Plan against COVID-19 presented to the Council of Ministers the state of execution of the COVID-19 Vaccination Plan.
As of June 8th, 93,525 people across the country have already received the first dose of the vaccine against COVID-19, which represents 12% of the population over 18 years old. In Dili, the municipality most affected by the outbreak of COVID-19, the first dose has already been administered to a total of 80,948 people, 40% of the population over 18 years of age in this municipality.
In the first phase, between April 7th and 28th, vaccines were distributed to 28,412 people. In the second phase, between May 10th and 28th, a total of 48,170 people received the first dose of the vaccine. From May 31st to June 8th, 16,943 doses were administered. Between May 10th and June 5th, an average of 3,000 people were vaccinated each day.
According to the vaccination plan, in the Municipality of Dili, the first dose will continue to be administered to the population that has not yet received vaccination, with the Sinovac and AstraZeneca vaccines. With the arrival of the vaccines from the COVAX mechanism, second doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine will begin to be distributed throughout the country to the population vaccinated in the first phase. The first doses will also continue to be distributed in the remaining municipalities, with priority being given to citizens over 60 years old or with comorbidities.
The Council of Ministers expressed gratitude for all the support that has been received from friendly nations and development partners in the procurement of the vaccines.
The Government has also decided that will prepare for the possibility of purchasing vaccines for citizens under the age of 18, and also provide for the possible need to purchase vaccine for immunity booster for the year 2022.
The Prime-Minister called on the members of the Interministerial Commission for the Preparation and Coordination of the Execution of the Vaccination Plan against COVID-19 to intensify the implementation of the vaccination in order to increase the daily average of administered vaccines.
Lastly, the Government appealed to the entire population to participate in the immunization campaign, a factor that will be crucial for us to return to normality. END
