Vaccine trials will be costly, says Pomat

CLINICAL trials for the AstraZeneca vaccine in Papua New Guinea will be costly and time-consuming, PNG Institute of Medical Research (PNGIMR) director Professor William Pomat says.
Pomat revealed this when responding to Eastern Highlands nurses’ rejection of AstraZeneca roll-out unless tested and approved by PNGIMR.
“By the time the results of any clinical trials are available, many will be infected and also die,” he said.
“Our health workers will be infected and our health system will collapse.
“It will be a costly and lengthy exercise.
“It is, therefore, unwise for PNG to conduct another trial while lives continue to be at risk.”
Pomat said PNGIMR, the Health Department and provincial health authorities could conduct research alongside the use of the AstraZeneca vaccine to find out how effective it was.
“They can determine how effective is the vaccine in preventing infections and what reactions people are getting after receiving the vaccine,” he said.
“I am sure the Government already has plans to conduct these studies as it has appointed International SOS to implement the roll-out in Port Moresby and perhaps nationwide.”
(International SOS is a health and security services firm which counts nearly two-thirds of the Fortune Global 500 companies as clients and takes about four million assistance calls annually.)
Nurses serving in Eastern Highlands’ eight districts met last Wednesday and unanimously agreed not to accept the AstraZeneca vaccines unless tested and confirmed by the PNGIMR as safe for use.
Eastern Highlands Nurses Union president Nocksy Gunure said that they wanted more testing and confirmation by the PNGIMR before declaring it safe for vaccination.
Gunure said health workers had no knowledge of the AstraZeneca vaccine and need more awareness.