Health Minister Jelta Wong is appealing to Papua New Guineans to get vaccinated as the world faces a fast spread of the highly contagious Delta variant of COVID-19 over more than 90 countries.
The Minister said the only true way for PNG and other countries to fully open up and get back to normal is through vaccination.
The Delta variant is spreading rapidly across the globe and is now present in Australia, Indonesia, Singapore and even Pacific Islands nation Fiji.
“During this current Delta strain spread we have seen the difference between having the vaccine and not having the vaccine.
“In one case, at a gathering of 30 people there were 24 unvaccinated people who then caught COVID-19 and there were 6 vaccinated people who did not catch COVID-19.
“The facts are clear and indisputable, when more people are vaccinated, the risk of infection is reduced significantly, so we appeal to our people to take the vaccine when it is available to them.
Minister Wong said taking the vaccine is a life and death decision and is appealing to everyone to talk with their families and make them safe by taking the vaccine.
“This is your own choice and it is one of the most important decisions you might ever make,” he said.
Meanwhile, National Pandemic Controller, David Manning repeated calls for citizens to be vaccinated.
He said being vaccinated will offer some level of protection from this highly contagious variant.
“Papua New Guinea has a real risk due to the high vaccine hesitancy which exposes the majority of our people to the virus and leaves us without a lot of options,” Mr Manning said.
He said the National Control Centre as a responsible organization tasked with the country’s COVID-19 response is closely monitoring developments in countries around the world including Australia and Fiji.
“At this point we have proposed a number of intervention strategies to the Government such as the ban on international flights for its consideration,” said Controller Manning.