A former Fijian resident is urging Fijians to take the COVID-19 vaccine shot. Usaia Masuwale and his wife received their first round of vaccine shot last month at Kaiser Permanent Medical Centre in San Francisco.

Yesterday, Mr Masuwale received his second shot of the Pfizer vaccine and said it was safe to take the shot.

“Don’t be afraid to take the COVID-19 vaccine when it’s available to you,” Mr Masuwale said.

“I’m a healthcare worker so my wife and I were one of the first ones to get vaccinated and we have not felt any side effects.”

Mr Masuwale said the only pain they felt was a little sore on the injection site and the surrounding muscles.

The Nakelo, Tailevu native said there has been a lot of negativity regarding the vaccine, which was why people were hesitant to take it.

“COVID-19 is worse than the side effects. Don’t listen to social media or irrelevant messages you see online.

“It is important to know that people who receive the vaccine will not get all of these side effects, they might get at least one of it.”

Mr Masuwale said after seeing the impact of COVID-19 in the US, he prayed that Fijians wouldn’t be double-minded about getting vaccinated.

Meanwhile, Fiji has five active border quarantine cases of COVID-19.