More than 5 billion COVID-19 vaccines have been delivered throughout the world.

The vaccine rollout, however, has been far from equal, with some nations, like Malta, having fully vaccinated over 80% of their population, while others, like Tanzania, Chad, Burkina Faso and Haiti, having fully vaccinated less than 1% of their citizens. 

With multiple COVID-19 vaccines and producers in circulation and various ways a nation can secure doses, attempting to keep up to date with how countries are progressing can be challenging. Below, we've unpacked how some of the key nations throughout Oceania, like Australia, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea and Samoa, have secured vaccines, current lockdown measures and how much of their population has been vaccinated. 

Australia 

Australia is currently amid the very worst of the pandemic. After a relatively painless 2020, the state of New South Wales has seen COVID-19 cases erupt, recording over 1,000 daily cases on Aug. 26, Aug. 28, Aug. 29, Aug. 30, Aug. 31, Sept. 1 Sept. 2 and Sept. 3.

Victoria, meanwhile, whose residents have now endured over 210 days in lockdown, is now recording over 100 cases a day. In the past month, COVID-19 lockdowns have occurred in NSW, Victoria, Queensland and South Australia.

Over 32% of the national population is now fully vaccinated, with 55% receiving the first dose. Across New South Wales, almost 38% of the population is fully vaccinated, while 62% have had the first dose. In Victoria, these figures equate to 32% and 53%, respectively. 

The two available vaccines include the Australian-produced AstraZeneca vaccine and the Pfizer vaccine, which had been in short supply across the country for a long time. People under the age of 40 in Australia are now eligible to receive the AstraZeneca vaccine, following changes to a previous requirement that saw those under 40 requiring a medical examination and written consent to be eligible. 

On Aug. 25, Victoria announced every Victorian aged 16 and over would now be eligible for the Pfizer vaccine as well. Nationwide, the Pfizer vaccine will become available to all aged over 16 from Aug. 30, after the announcement that the arrival of 40 million Pfizer doses already secured for Australia this year would be sped up. Children aged 12 to 15 will be eligible for vaccination from mid-September. 

The Moderna vaccine is expected to be made available from late September. 

New Zealand 

New Zealand, a nation that is renowned for its COVID-19 suppression strategy, has one of the lowest vaccination rates among developed nations. Just under 3 million jabs have been given in the country, meaning a little over 1 million people have been fully vaccinated, around 21% of the 5 million population.

After the country secured a deal from the pharmaceutical corporation, almost all New Zealanders have had and will receive the Pfizer vaccine. As of August's end, all New Zealanders aged over 30 and in priority groups will be eligible to receive the vaccine.

Bookings for those aged 12 and over opened on Sept. 1.

On Aug. 24, New Zealand recorded one new COVID-19 case, bringing the country's six-month streak without local transmission to an end and thrusting the country into lockdown. The lockdown, which was initially expected to end on Aug. 27, was extended following the announcement that a further 70 COVID-19 cases had been recorded across the country that day.  

Papua New Guinea

As of Aug. 19, just under 145,000 COVID-19 vaccines had been administered across the island nation.

The country saw COVID-19 surge in mid-March, with cases peaking at over 500 a day on March 25. The outbreak only began to ease toward the end of May, and each day in August has now recorded between one and 35 cases.

The COVAX Facility — a vaccine equity partnership between the World Health Organization, Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance and the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness — delivered 132,000 AstraZeneca vaccines to the tiny Pacific nation in mid-April. New Zealand has donated 146,4000 AstraZeneca vaccines, while the US has delivered 302,400 doses. Australia has sent around 28,000.

The nation is expected to receive almost 600,000 doses through the COVAX Facility. 

Less than 1% of the population is fully vaccinated. 

Solomon Islands

As of Aug. 19, 71,000 COVID-19 vaccines had been distributed nationwide.

The country has fared well regarding COVID-19 cases since the pandemic began, recording just 20 cases and 0 deaths between Jan. 3, 2020, and Aug. 26, 2021. Solomon Islands has so far received 63,000 doses from Australia and a further 24,000 from COVAX. In addition, the vaccine partnership has allocated the nation of 669,000 residents 108,000 vaccines. 

Just 2.2% of the country is fully vaccinated. 

Samoa 


Samoa has so far received just under 80,000 AstraZeneca vaccines through the COVAX Facility. Australia has supplied 50,000 doses, with the first 10,000 arriving in the nation in early April. Just 19% of the population is now fully vaccinated, with 125,000 injections into arms.

Tonga

Over 50,000 COVID-19 vaccines have been administered throughout Tonga, resulting in 25,000 — or 24% of the population — being fully vaccinated. Australia has supplied the nation with 9,000 vaccines out of a promised 45,000 Australian-made AstraZeneca vaccines this year. Through COVAX, 48,000 vaccines have arrived since March 31.

Vanuatu 

Vanuatu, a nation that has recorded just three COVID-19 cases since the pandemic began, has administered over 31,000 vaccines. Just 1,700 people have been fully vaccinated, however, representing just 0.55% of the population. In May, Vanuatu received 24,000 vaccine doses through COVAX, with the partnership promising to supply enough vaccines throughout 2021 for Vanuatu to vaccinate 20% of its population.

Australia has already sent over 20,000 vaccine doses. 

Fiji 

Over 45% of the Fijian population have been fully vaccinated, with at least 95% of all adults having received one dose. Fiji recorded 1,854 new daily cases on July 15, before cases slowly eased in early August. More than half a million doses have been delivered to Fiji by Australia, with a further 36,000 AstraZeneca doses supplied by COVAX. The vaccine partnership has promised the nation 100,800 doses.  

Kiribati 

Kiribati became the eighth country in the Pacific to receive vaccines through COVAX, with the first shipment arriving in late May. Thirteen thousand Australian-sourced vaccines arrived in the nation on Aug. 23, with the Australian flight delivering the vaccines carrying 56,000 doses on behalf of Japan. A total of 104,000 COVAX vaccines have now been delivered to Kiribati.

Just under 14,000 vaccines are thought to have been administered to the I-Kiribati people.

Timor-Leste 

Around 278,000 Australian-manufactured doses have been provided to Timor-Leste, while 100,8000 COVAX doses have touched down in the Pacific nation. Japan has promised to provide approximately 170,000 Japanese-produced doses to Timor-Leste. Just under half a million jabs have already been distributed, with 143,000 people, 11% of the population, fully vaccinated. 

Global Citizen’s can take action and push for vaccine equity by calling on Australia to step up here.

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