13 Jul 2021

Talks begin to repatriate stranded Nauruans in Fiji

7:34 pm on 13 July 2021

Nauruans stranded in Fiji due to the Covid-19 border restrictions could find themselves heading home soon.

Nauru

Nauru Photo: AFP

Discussions are underway between Nauru's Covid-19 Taskforce and its national carrier on repatriating Nauruans from Fiji and Taiwan.

Nauru president Lionel Aingimea says the Covid crisis in Fiji is a concern, given the highly-infectious Delta strain of the virus circulating in the communities.

There are over 200 Nauruans in Fiji, five are fully vaccinated, 95 have had their first AstraZeneca dose, and 23 are unvaccinated.

But 100 of them are ineligible because they are under 18 years of age and are not recommended to get the jab.

In a statement, President Aingimea said Nauru's taskforce has been advised to begin looking at other alternative vaccines such as Pfizer and Moderna, which can be administered to those aged 12 to 18.

"The taskforce will be looking at logistics, procurement and storage of the alternative vaccine in Nauru.

"The official campaign for the Covid-19 second-dose vaccination ended on Saturday, 3 July and 90 percent of the target adult population of Nauru are now fully vaccinated."

Aingimea said there were 678 individuals (10 percent) who had not received their second shot.