SUVA, Jan. 13 (Xinhua) — Fiji has recorded seven new COVID-19 deaths, bringing the total number of COVID-19 deaths to 24 since confirmation of the third wave of the pandemic.

Fiji’s Permanent Secretary for Health James Fong said on Thursday that five of the new deaths confirmed overnight were fully vaccinated but had pre-existing medical conditions, local media reported.

Of the other two, one was not vaccinated and another had received only one dose of the vaccine.

A total of 417 new COVID-19 cases have been reported by the Health Ministry since Tuesday.

Fiji has registered 58,491 COVID-19 cases and 721 deaths since March 2020. The island nation has been facing the third wave of COVID-19 since the beginning of this year.

Currently, 92.4 percent of the target population in Fiji are fully vaccinated, while 97.9 percent have received at least one dose of the vaccine.

Fong said that by January 11, 2022, 39,179 Fijians over the age of 18 have received the booster dose of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine while 142,240 people are still due to get their booster shot.

Read more: Fiji records 17 deaths as 3rd wave of COVID-19 hits island nation

Fiji now has more than 100,000 doses of the Moderna vaccine in stock and is expecting more doses of the Pfizer vaccine by the middle of this month.

Fiji started its booster dose program in November last year with frontline health and essential service workers and was later opened to everyone aged 18 and over.