Timing for 2nd doses clarified

NATIONAL Pandemic deputy controller Dr Daoni Esorom says the second dose of AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine can be taken between the 8th and 12th week following the first dose.
“People who went for vaccination at Rita Flynn in Port Moresby were told to return on the eighth week for the second dose,” he said.
“This has caused public confusion, hence, it was raised with the National Control Centre in the beginning of this month.
“But the second dose must be taken on the 12th week following the first dose.
“I will have a word with the National Capital District health authority acting chief executive officer. If you take it at the 12th week, the efficacy is higher than taking it at the 8th week.
“So, we are encouraging everybody not to rush into taking the second dose after eight weeks.”
Dr Esorom said at 12 weeks, the efficacy could go as far as 85 per cent as opposed to an efficacy of between 72 and 75 per cent in eight weeks. To clear the confusion on when to take the second dose, Dr Esorom said “it is okay to get the second dose on/after the eight weeks”.
He stressed that it was important for people to get vaccinated to mitigate and check the spread of the Covid-19.
“The highly infectious delta variant of the virus is in the region and the Covid-19 test samples were already sent to Melbourne for genome sequencing to determine whether the variant was already in PNG,” he said.
Dr Esorom said testing was critical in the Covid-19 response but the rate was very low at the moment which should be improved.