As Papua New Guinea's coronavirus vaccine roll-out prepares to ramp up the death toll from the disease has risen to 69.
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The latest death was that of a 60-year-old man in the Western Highlands on Sunday, PNG newspaper The National reported.
Total reported cases have reached 8602 but the infection tally greatly underestimates the real figure as PNG does not do mass testing.
Health authorities in the Pacific nation are rolling out the AstraZeneca vaccine with more than 130,000 doses set to arrive from India.
Australia has already sent thousands of doses to PNG and plans to send thousands more every week to help vaccinate the country's estimated 8 million people.
A team of AUSMAT nurses, doctors, emergency care specialists and infectious disease experts are already in PNG to assist in the fight against the disease.
Some PNG citizens are hesitant to get the AstraZeneca jab following international evidence that it can lead to very rare blood clots in people under 50.
Australian Associated Press
