More people in NCD coming forward to take jab: Official

By LULU MARK
MORE people in the National Capital District (NCD) are coming forward to be vaccinated against the Coronavirus (Covid-19), public health director Dr Amos Lano says.
“We hit the target last month with 92,312 vaccinations. As of Wednesday, a total of 96,599 people were fully vaccinated in NCD,” he said.
“We expect these figures to increase as more people are now coming in for vaccination, and we increased the number of vaccination sites.
“The major challenges hindering our progress are logistics and funding. We are very thankful to our partners who have been very supportive to help mitigate the Covid-19 surge and reduce community transmission.
“Our success last year was due to strong leadership with proactive approach and effective strategic response plan that landed us with these impressive results.
“But more work is needed to be done (and can be done) if we receive consistent support from the Health Department and the Government.
“Despite the challenges, the NCD health facilities were kept operational and manpower was reorganised as well as logistics to improve capacities.
“This included having oxygen supplies to stabalise patients before being referred to the Port Moresby General Hospital and Taurama Aquatic Centre to reduce the load and overcrowding at the facilities.
“We also improved screening and testing at entry points, pre-triaging at facilities, increased vaccination sites at shopping centres, and strengthening surveillance with stakeholders.”