Only 17 people not vaccinated; Niue achieve herd immunity with 97% vaccination rate

Health minister Hon. Sauni Tongatule in response to questions in the Fono Ekepule today confirmed that only 17 people of the eligible population were not vaccinated.

It was not clear if this number include the ten pregnant women who were not vaccinated until after the birth of their babies.

Asked if there will be a third dose, Minister Tongatule said that there are no discussions at this point for the population to receive a third dose.

Niue’s successful completion of the vaccination roll out was first released to the New Zealand media by NZ Minister for Pacific Peoples Aupito William Sio yesterday.

Minister Sio said Niue’s achievement is significant, and its residents should be proud saying that he is excited for Niue. This is a big deal,” Sio said.

“A lot of hard work has gone into this, with a lot of people working behind the scenes. It’s super fantastic.”

BCN news had contacted the health department on Monday expecting to be the first to break the news on the completion of Niue’s 97 per cent vaccination rate but was told that information will be released via a press release.

The press release was finally issued this afternoon, four days after the completion of the vaccination roll-out, saying that “The Government today announced that it has completed the successful roll-out of the Pfizer BioNTech programme to vaccinate the people of Niue”.

The completion of the vaccination programme means that the government can move forward with its overall COVID response plans including opening borders and rebuilding the economy.

Minister Tongatule also thanked the officials from New Zealand’s ministry of health for their support and assistance to ensure their Niue counterparts were able to deliver a successful vaccination programme.