Authority stresses on vaccination

By ELIAS LARI
THE Western Highlands health authority (PHA) is carrying out awareness on the Coronavirus (Covid19) vaccination because only three per cent of population has been vaccinated and this means lives are still at risk, a senior health worker says.
PHA deputy director for health and disease prevention Fredah Pyanyo put the low vaccination rate on hesitancy and fear by the public about the side effects.
She said the PHA feared that there would be a rise in the Covid-19 cases after the election period.
Pyanyo said this at the Callan centre for the disabled in Mt Hagen on Wednesday when encouraging people living with disabilities (PLWDs) to get vaccinated.
She added that nationally the figure was not much better with only six per cent of the population having been vaccinated and this compared poorly to most countries in the region which had achieved 70 to 80 per cent vaccination rates.
“The only way to protect yourselves is to be vaccinated because we do not know exactly how many people have been infected,” she said.
“With the elections, political rallies and big gatherings we believe the spread will be fast.”
Pyanyo encouraged people to in come for testing and vaccination.
“Vaccination is the only way for the people to be on the safe side and we are appealing to the people not to believe what’s on social media and negative comments spread by people with no medical background,” she said.