FNU’s Explain the Science panel discussion organised by the College of Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences.
The Fiji National University’s (FNU) College of Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences (CMNHS) continues to shed light on COVID-19 and its impact and vaccination through a series of virtual panel discussions.
Chaired by the CMNHS Associate Dean Research and Director of the Fiji Institute of Pacific Health Research (FIPHR), Dr Donald Wilson, the recent panelists consisted Head of Fiji’s COVID-19 Vaccine Taskforce Dr Rachel Devi and Professor Nikky Turner who is a General Practitioner and a Professor in the Department of General Practice and Primary Care and Medical Director of the Immunisation Advisory Centre (IMAC), at the University of Auckland.
The panel discussion on Friday, June 25, 2021 was conducted via Zoom and live-streamed on the FNU and CMNHS Facebook pages.
Panelists spoke in their areas of expertise and answered questions from members of the public that were sent through a dedicated email address: covidquestionsfnu@gmail.com and messaged during the Livestream session.
While speaking on the various types of vaccines developed for COVID-19, Professor Turner explained that it is not unusual to have more than one vaccine. She said having different kinds of vaccines for the same disease, enabled countries to choose the kind of vaccines they would need.
“There was an urgency in the world to have a vaccine that would be effective which led to several different approaches and all the vaccines work slightly different. Some of the vaccines were not effective and did not work,” she mentioned.
“AstraZeneca vaccines are developed in the same way as other vaccines, with standard, quality care and ensuring that all steps were followed during the manufacturing phase.”
Professor Turner highlighted that majority of people will have a good response to the AstraZeneca vaccine and do not get sick however there will be a small percentage of people who can be vaccinated and still become unwell after being vaccinated.
“People should understand that when they are getting vaccinated they are protecting themselves and their families as well.”
According to Head of Fiji’s COVID-19 Vaccine Taskforce Dr Rachel Devi, Fiji opted for the AstraZeneca vaccine because of its efficacy and availability.
“In Fiji, 38,031 individuals are fully vaccinated which makes about 6.5% of Fiji’s targeted population being fully vaccinated. For maximum protection, people need to take the second dose as well. The side effects from the second dose are very less as compared to the first dose. I would like to also add that 46% of the Fijian population have received that first dose,” stated Dr Devi.
She further explained that while the vaccine is an important option, it might not be the only thing that can be done to prevent the virus from spreading. She said it is essential for people to follow COVID behaviours.
Click here to access the virtual panel discussion and detailed highlights of the event.
The next session is live from 1 pm – 2 pm today (Monday 5 July, 2021) which is chaired by the Head of the Fiji Institute of Pacific Health Research (FIPHR) at the College of Medicine, Nursing & Health Sciences (CMNHS) Dr Donald Wilson. The panelists include FNU’s CMNHS staff Taina Naivalu, Sakiusa Baleivanualala, Adriu Sepeti and Uraia Rabuatoka. The session will be conducted in the i-taukei language.