Race to send vaccines, medical aid as COVID-19 reaches Pacific islands

FILE PHOTO: Relief supplies are unloaded from Japan Self-Defense Forces' C-130 Hercules after the airplane arrived at Fua'amotu International Airport on the island of Tongatapu, Tonga, January 22, 2022, in this handout photo taken by Japan Self-Defense Forces and released by the Joint Staff Office of the Defense Ministry of Japan. Joint Staff Office of the Defense Ministry of Japan/HANDOUT via REUTERS

SYDNEY (Reuters) - Pacific island nations that are some of the last places in the world to be hit by the coronavirus pandemic are recording a growing number of COVID-19 cases, prompting a rush to provide vaccines, medical teams and food aid.

Concern about the detection of the coronavirus in tsunami-hit Tonga, where one new case was recorded on Friday, has been heightened by thousands of infections sweeping neighbouring Pacific islands.