‘Borders at risk of outbreak’
Call for faith heads to reassure people
FIJI’s borders are at risk of a COVID-19 outbreak at any time — and this is why Fijians need to be vaccinated and protected — says Ministry of Health permanent secretary Dr James Fong.
Officiating at the Ministry of Health engagement with leaders of faith-based organisations,
Dr Fong said the idea that no outbreak could take place at the border was an unwise one.
He said since the borders closed, it helped contain the spread of the virus but, at the same time, affected the country’s economy.
He said the vaccination program would greatly help address the negative impacts.
“The poverty level has shot up and we have seen with our own eyes the effect of poverty, both in terms of health outcomes and the desperation of people to try and make a living,” he said.
“I personally don’t believe that containment is the sustainable way for Fiji and the world to address this pandemic.
“We have to protect the people to be able to engage with the world because there is no other way to survive, we have to engage with the world.
“The world was gifted to us and it has its good and bad sides but we need religious leaders to understand the fight we are fighting and reassure our people about this vaccine and that we cannot be staying in containment as we have to move into protection mode.”
Dr Fong called on religious leaders to talk to their believers about the need to be vaccinated so that Fiji could return to some form of normalcy.