
The Falkland Islands Government has received confirmation that it will receive a third batch of Covid-19 vaccines and, while the exact timing is yet to be confirmed, it is anticipated that these will arrive in the week beginning 22 March.

The governments of the United Kingdom, the Falkland Islands and Argentina agreed on Thursday to carry out a new stage of the Humanitarian Project Plan that began in 2017 and has allowed the identification of 115 Argentine soldiers fallen during the 1982 armed conflict. The agreement was signed at the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) in Geneva, Switzerland and the Plan will be resumed in August, as confirmed by the British Embassy in Buenos Aires.

The accord for the second phase of the humanitarian initiative to identify the remains of Argentine combatants buried at the Argentine military cemetery in the Falkland Islands is scheduled to be signed this Thursday in Geneva, while work could be starting by next August.

The next phase of Covid vaccinations in the Falklands is set to begin on 23 March, the Falkland Islands Government confirmed on Tuesday. The upcoming vaccination round will see people who received their first dose between 8-12 February receive their second dose of the Oxford/AstraZeneca jab.

Commercial air links between Chile and Brazil and the Falkland Islands are expected to resume next July according to Aviacionline, an air industry site that revealed it obtained the information through Cirium which specializes in aviation and travel data and analytics.

April 30 is a critical date for when the South Atlantic squid catches reach Vigo in Spain. It will also be a Brexit test since tariffs involving third countries such as the UK do not apply to catches from British waters, except for increased customs paperwork, but do apply for fish produce from British territories overseas.

The Falkland Islands’ Executive Council this week agreed to tighten the policy governing the entry of vessels into the islands’ territorial waters and ports. Under the new policy, any vessel which has suspected or reported cases of Covid-19 “should not seek to enter Falkland Islands territorial waters and ports,” the Falklands government has confirmed.

Graham Chapman, Captain of RRS James Clark Ross sent a message of gratitude to the people of the Falklands when the polar research vessel left the Islands for the last time.

The Falkland Islands Government this week published the legal framework to establish the Falkland Islands Environment Trust: a mechanism designed to collect funds and award grants to support persons engaged in “conservation, management, and enhancement of the environment.”

The Falkland Islands government has agreed to extend each of Rockhopper Exploration plc’s offshore North Falkland basin petroleum licenses, including the Sea Lion discovery area, until Nov. 1, 2022. The extension includes no additional license commitments. The previous expiry date was May 1, 2021.