Fong takes a swipe at Times
Wesley says it’s unfortunate
HEALTH Ministry permanent secretary Dr James Fong said he was “extremely disappointed by media coverage that has been misleading” in regards to COVID-19.
“In particular, The Fiji Times published a troubling headline on their Facebook page saying “Vaccines do not protect you from the virus”, he said during a news conference yesterday.
“The headline was wrong.
“It is contradicted by science, and many people will be swayed by it without ever reading the article.
“All of us who provide information to the public must take extreme care in what you say and how you say it to avoid giving information that is misleading, unproven, premature or, at worst, false.”
Dr Fong also accused this newspaper of not participating in an awareness workshop organised by the ministry.
“To that end, we actually held a workshop to raise awareness on misinformation, disinformation, and malinformation a few weeks ago with civil society organisations and members of the media to talk about the dangers of bad information.
“I am told that The Fiji Times was invited.
Unfortunately, they did not send any one. And now, their reckless words may have deadly consequences.”
He said no vaccine could give 100 per cent protection, but it could protect people from severe disease, hospitalisation and death.
“You need two doses, 12 weeks apart to get the maximum protection. So far, we have only administered the first dose, which means we have only offered partial protection.
“When a person is fully immunised, the likelihood of contracting the virus plummets, as does the severity of their symptoms.”
Meanwhile, The Fiji Times editor Fred Wesley said the online headline on Monday, April 19, was taken off comments made by Dr Fong, when he said the COVID-19 vaccine only protected a person from getting sick, severe disease, hospitalisation and death.
“It doesn’t protect you from actually getting the virus, there is a reduced chance of getting the virus but it doesn’t mean it goes down to zero,” Dr Fong was quoted saying. “There is some chance that you can get mild symptoms.”
Wesley said: “This was widely reported as well. In hindsight, readers who may not have read the article may have wrongly interpreted the headline. This is unfortunate.”