By Kayla Cheung
From our January issue.
In the Western Pacific Ocean near both Guam and the Philippines, lies Palau, an island nation with a population of about 18,000 people overall. The country had not reported coronavirus cases throughout all of 2020, an impressive feat considering the pandemic’s effects on an international scale, which entailed 22,151,902 reported cases around the world.
Palau has a “free association” relationship with the United States but is not a U.S. territory, which entitles the country to financial aid and military assistance among other things. Consequently, it was via the U.S. that they were equipped with 2,800 Moderna Covid-19 vaccines to begin distribution on January 3rd. It remains unclear when they will receive another shipment of vaccines; however, Palau’s priority system ensures that those who are most vulnerable to Coronavirus are immunized first.
The Palauan government has taken its opportunity — to vaccinate even a small number of people — very seriously to the extent where elected officials are anxious to complete their grand task of immunizing all citizens. They follow a similar rollout pattern to that of the U.S., vaccinating healthcare and frontline workers first, and then individuals seventy-five years and older correspondingly.
“We are small, so there’s always that apprehension that maybe we would be last in line…I am very fortunate and excited,” Palauan President Thomas Remengesau Jr. told the Island Times.
Palau’s reception of tourists throughout the pandemic, or rather the lack thereof, is what set them up to have no cases of Covid-19. Part of their preventative measures compromised banning several airlines from landing, including United Airlines and China Airlines.
They also demand health clearance forms from all travelers from healthcare professionals, yet even then, a mandatory 14-day quarantine is necessary if one is traveling from a designated list of countries. Palauan citizens, who travel abroad for any reason, are to also follow these rules to a certain degree, with quarantines mandated for some returning citizens.
The Moderna vaccine is still not approved by the FDA for people under 18, but Palauan officials are firm in their position to vaccinate the entire adult population as soon as they have enough in quantity to do so. If Palau continues on its fixed path of Covid-19 eradication, it will be the first country to vaccinate all of its people against Coronavirus.
