Timor-Leste’s inoculation drive will be largely anchored by the AstraZeneca and Pfizer vaccine moving forward, Coelho told the Independente after he announced the end of Sinovac stock.

Timor-Leste has secured about one million doses of AstraZeneca vaccine from the COVAX mechanism, enough to cover around half of the population, compared to 100,000 does of Sinovac’s shots, officials said.

The government will consider securing more Sinovac shots in the future “if demand grows”, Coelho said.

The decision to stop using Sinovac’s inactivated virus vaccine comes amid increasing concern over its efficacy against new and more contagious variants of the coronavirus.

In July, Malaysia and Thailand said they would use the AstraZeneca vaccine as a second dose for those who received the Sinovac shot, while Indonesia is considering a booster shot for those who received the two-dose Sinovac course, Reuters reported.

Across Timor-Leste, more than 662,000 doses of vaccine against COVID-19 have been administered, of which 47,152 were Sinovac shots.

The Minister of Defence, Filomeno da Paixão de Jesus, and the Secretary of State for the Youth and Sport, Abrão Saldanha, were among the first in Timor-Leste to receive the first dose of Sinovac.

More than 55% of the population over 18 years old has received at least the first dose and about 32.5% already have fully vaccinated. In Dili, almost 77% of the adult population has already received at least one dose and over 63% already have been fully vaccinated, according to official data.

Sinovac has as a priority group young people from 18 years old, teachers and the Chinese community in Timor-Leste.