Prime Minister Sogavare in his nationwide address yesterday said Cabinet has directed the Oversight Committee and the Policy Implementation, Monitoring and Evaluation unit (PIME), to undertake critical analysis and recommendations on how and when we should consider reopening our borders.
He said central to the re-opening of our borders is our vaccination coverage.
He said all countries that have successfully reopened their borders had achieved more than 80 percent full vaccination coverage of their eligible population.
“The speed which we can reopen our borders depends on all the eligible population in Solomon Islands getting vaccinated as soon as possible,” he said.
Sogavare said as much as we would like to see that everyone is safe from COVID-19, we cannot remain in isolation forever.
“The responsibility to protect our country from COVID-19 and at the same time have a viable economy, rests with all of us,” he said.
The Prime Minister said we need to accelerate our vaccination coverage to reach 90 percent coverage as soon as possible so that we can reopen our borders earlier rather than later.
He said we need to set a realistic date to achieve our vaccination target and a realistic target to reopen our borders.
“I plead with you all as your Prime Minister to get vaccinated. I continue to emphasize the importance of our unified approach to combat COVID-19. I strongly believe that by working together, our unity in diversity, and our solidarity will carry us through to overcome this pandemic,” Sogavare said.
–OPMC PRESS
