Buses provided to boost vaccination programme

The Vanuatu Ministry of Health is now providing free buses to get people to the vaccination centre in Port Vila.

The ministry is appealing to adults to use the buses to go and get their Covid-19 vaccination.

Vanuatu now has about 44,000 doses of vaccines, 24,000 of AstraZeneca through the COVAX facility and 20,000 doses of Sinopharm from China.

So far 7,462 people have received the first dose of AstraZeneca - health and frontline workers, the elderly and those with underlying health conditions.

Meanwhile, the director of the National Disaster Management Office, Abraham Nasak, says there will be a temporary restriction on passengers travelling into Vanuatu.

This will start on Friday July 9 and go to July 31.

The ban only applies to inbound travel - there are no restrictions on outbound passenger travel, cargo flights and shipments.

Our correspondent understands the temporary restriction is aimed at giving frontline workers a break ahead of the country's independence day celebrations on July 30.

It's also to avoid the risk of covid-19 being spread during mass gatherings.