The Minister of Health, Odete Maria Freitas Belo, officially received today the first batch of Pfizer vaccines and an ultra-low temperature refrigeration system, in a ceremony held at the premises of the Autonomous Service of Medicines and Health Equipment (SAMES – Portuguese acronym), in Dili.

This shipment of vaccines with 100,620 doses arrived in the country last Saturday, through the COVAX mechanism and was funded by the United States Government.

These vaccines are intended to vaccinate young people aged between 12 and 17 years. The population aged 18 and over will continue to receive Astrazeneca’s or Sinovac’s vaccines.

Preparation of the necessary storage conditions for the vaccines was carried out at SAMES with technical and financial support from UNICEF. The operational procedures for the storage, transport, management and application of vaccines were ensured with the technical support of the World Health Organization.

According to data recorded yesterday, 67.5 per cent of the population over 18 years old has already taken the first dose of the vaccines against COVID-19 and 43.2 per cent has completed the vaccination.

There are currently three municipalities, Covalima, Viqueque and Dili, with more than 80 per cent of the population having at least one dose of the vaccine against COVID-19 administered.

Dili is the municipality with the highest percentage of fully vaccinated population, where 71.4 per cent of people over 18 have already received two doses of the vaccine.

Of the 13 municipalities, 11 already have more than half of the population with at least one dose vaccine, only Ainaro and Ermera have vaccination rates below 50 per cent.

Since September 30th, members of the Government have been visiting all the country’s municipalities to share information about the COVID-19 vaccine and to raise awareness of the population on the need for vaccination. This vaccination campaign has allowed numbers to increase across the country, allowing the national percentage to rise by around 9 per cent.