SUVA, Feb. 15 (Xinhua) -- Fiji's COVID-19 restrictions removal will make foreign visitors' travel easier and more convenient, said Fiji's Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Tourism Viliame Gavoka on Wednesday.
According to Fiji Broadcasting Corporation (FBC), Gavoka said that the decision to remove the COVID-19 vaccination and travel restrictions was made following careful consideration of the global and national COVID-19 situation by the COVID-19 Risk Mitigation Taskforce in Fiji.
The lifting of these restrictions has been welcomed by many people, and he is getting a lot of positive responses from the people over the decision, Gavoka added.
According to the COVID-19 Risk Mitigation Taskforce, from Tuesday, Fiji no longer has any border restrictions due to COVID-19 as international travelers are no longer required to provide proof of COVID-19 vaccination and travel insurance.
Fiji's Health Ministry reports 100 percent of Fiji's estimated adult population have received one dose and 95 percent received the second dose while the vaccination of the target population has been progressing well with the 12 years and above coverage rate for Fiji being 99 percent for Dose 1 and 89 percent for Dose 2.
As of Feb. 8, 170,867 people or 54.6 percent of the booster-eligible individuals had received their third dose while 29,208 individuals had been administered the 4th dose, it said.
Fiji's border authorities will continue to review border health measures and maintain community surveillance for early warning of future threats while fostering socio-economic recovery.
According to the COVID-19 Risk Mitigation Taskforce, Fiji's economic recovery continues on the back of a strong tourism rebound.
Last year, Fiji received a total of 636,312 foreign tourists, about 71 percent of the figure for 2019. And this year, it is anticipating more than 700,000 visitors to come for holidays.
China has been among the top five source markets of Fiji's tourism industry over the past years.
Gavoka said earlier that Fiji wanted to grow the Chinese market further and Fiji recognized the value of Chinese tourists as a growing global outbound market.
Fiji received about 46,000 Chinese tourists per year before the pandemic, he said. ■