Research: Many adults unprotected

UP to two-thirds of Papua New Guinea’s adult population may be still largely be unprotected from the Coronavirus (Covid-19) in 2026, based on projections of a new research published by the Lowy Institute.
Using country data and modelling, the institute assessed the state of vaccine rollouts for 14 countries across the Pacific islands region.
It showed PNG’s rollout is the region’s slowest, with the country of more than 9 million people recording some of the lowest vaccination rates in the world.
This contrasts with some smaller countries in the region, where near-universal coverage has already been achieved.
“This research reveals a region divided,” research fellow Alexandre Dayant said.
“The northern Pacific has benefitted from the efforts by the United States to roll out vaccines quickly and at scale, while parts of Melanesia have been hampered by poor health service delivery, but more worryingly – misinformation leading to outright vaccine resistance.
“The situation in PNG is particularly concerning, and the most recent
numbers don’t give a lot of cause for hope.”
The Solomon Islands, Vanuatu and PNG are under-performing on vaccination.
None of the three will have vaccinated more than 20 per cent of their adult populations by the end of this year.
PNG has currently vaccinated just 2.5 per cent – and by 2026, will have reached just 35 per cent of its adult population.
This contrasts with Fiji, which this month has achieved an adult vaccination rate of 90 per cent despite contending with an outbreak of the Delta variant of the Covid-19.
International donors have guaranteed supply to the region, with Australia providing around two-thirds of commitments and most of the supply to date.