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International visitors to Fiji will no longer be required to provide proof of COVID-19 vaccination and travel insurance.

This decision was announced yesterday following careful consideration of the global and national COVID-19 situation by the COVID-19 Risk Mitigation Taskforce.

Previously, all travelers 16 years and above were required to produce proof of full vaccination and travel insurance covering COVID-19.

As reported by the Ministry of Health and Medical Services, Fiji’s hospitalization is low, owed to our community-wide immunization and in-country surveillance capacity.

Notably, the focus remains on implementing COVID safe measures around those vulnerable to the severe effects of COVID-19.

The Health Ministry reports that 100 percent of Fiji’s estimated adult population has received one dose and 95 percent have received the second dose.

In addition, the ministry reports that vaccination of Fiji’s population has been progressing well with the 12 years and above coverage rate for Fiji being 99 percent for dose one and 89 percent for dose two.

Furthermore, as of last week, 170,867 booster-eligible individuals have received their third dose and the ministry has administered the fourth dose to 29,208 individuals.

Consistent with the experience in other countries with high vaccination rates, Fiji will no longer have any COVID-19-related border health measures.

The government states that border authorities will continue to review border health measures and maintain community surveillance for early warning of future threats while fostering socio-economic recovery.

Meanwhile, Fiji’s economic recovery continues on the back of a strong tourism rebound.

In 2022, visitor arrivals to Fiji reached 71.1 percent of 2019 with a strong forecast for the first quarter of 2022.