Health

Pacific states need to start planning for vaccine rollout in order to start rebuilding their communities, Henry Ivarature, Nicholas Thomson and Hugh McClure write.

Tropical Cyclone Harold and COVID-19 are predicted to cost Vanuatu 61 per cent of it’s 2021 GDP, whilst Pacific leaders have emphasised the continued effects of the pandemic at the United Nations, Hugh McClure writes.

The government of French Polynesia has refused to close schools despite surging numbers of COVID-19 cases, whilst Fiji has extended financial relief to pension fund members, Hugh McClure writes.

Two-thirds of Papua New Guinea’s small and medium-sized businesses have been forced to close their doors as a result of COVID-19, whilst French Polynesia’s president has tested positive for the virus, Hugh McClure writes.

COVID-19 has emerged in the Solomon Islands, whilst PNG is slowly opening up to international travel, Hugh McClure writes.