Vaccination

Dr. Daoni Esorom says sporting codes affiliated under the PNG Sports Foundation must consider vaccination of sportsmen and women and even the administrators of the code to safeguard the competitions.

He reminded them that sports are high risk events where the COVID-19 virus can spread if preventive measures are not adopted at the early stages of the commencement of the competitions.

He said there are also important criteria for all sporting codes to meet in order for the competition to begin.

More than 1,500 vaccinations have been administered in Lae with more expected across the rest of the Province.

Wafi-Golpu Joint Venture (WGJV) acknowledges the vaccination efforts led by the Morobe Provincial Health Authority (MoPHA).

The MoPHA has encouraged its staff based in Lae and other parts of the country to take steps to getting the shots.

"Prevention is the way forward and we all have a responsibility to keeping our fellow workers, families and communities safe by taking the the COVID-19 vaccination," said Cassender Garong, WGJV Environment Superintendent.

Mr Manning said the directive has come into effect:

· No private or public health facility shall charge any fee or require any payment when immunising any person against COVID-19 through the Papua New Guinea Government National Vaccination program;

· No person shall be required to pay any fee or payments for a COVID-19 vaccine provided through the Papua New Guinea National Vaccination program;

· COVID-19 vaccinations are to be administered by the Provincial Health Authorities and Port Moresby General Hospital;

“Vaccination is voluntary and will depend on the Government’s plan to roll it out across the country,” Dr Kombra stated.

“Students and teachers will be informed accordingly but in the meantime, it is voluntary and the priority target group are the frontline health workers.”

The Secretary made this statement after receiving information about students in a certain province who panicked and fled their school after learning that they were going to be vaccinated.

The biggest polio vaccination campaign to be implemented in PNG mobilised more than 9,000 health workers and volunteers.

“As of 31 October 2018, we have immunised 3,112,035 children under 15 years old against polio, and this had been made possible through the hard work and dedication of our polio workers on the ground,” said the Secretary of the National Department of Health (NDOH), Pascoe Kase.

“I commend the leadership of the provincial health agencies and emergency operations coordinators for effectively launching and managing a very challenging response operations.”

A study published Wednesday in the journal Science Translational Medicine examines the question: Why did one vaccine offer 35% less protection against the flu?

The less-effective vaccine failed to activate dendritic cells, which are key to the immune system's defense, the researchers discovered, and it failed to stimulate an early immune response.

A program called the “special integrated routine expanded program on immunisation” involves the routine vaccines that are being used to inoculate children under the age of one.

More than 30 health clinics and facilities in Kokopo, Gazelle and Rabaul districts have gone into communities to facilitate this program.

The SIREP Plus contains the normal routine vaccines and the inclusion of new vaccines and these include the measles rubella (MR), inactivated polio vaccine (IPV) and the pneumococcal vaccine (PCV 13).