Monkeypox should not be mistaken for chickenpox which is into season in Fiji.

The Ministry of Health and Medical Services Permanent Secretary, Dr James Fong, highlighted this and confirmed there was no case of monkeypox in the country.

This was after a rumor of two monkeypox cases in the country surfaced.

“We got chickenpox going around and some adults who have not had chickenpox as a child will begin to have chickenpox during this outbreak,” he said.

Dr Fong said chickenpox has spread across the country and people should be aware of it.

In a statement last month, the World Health Organisation said it was working with affected countries and others to expand disease surveillance to find and support people who may be affected, and to provide guidance on how to manage the disease.

Third COVID-19 dosage

While the country braces for the new disease, Dr Fong highlighted the need for Fijians to get their third COVID-19 vaccine dose.

“We don’t care about how many cases we get, we are worried about how many cases end up getting admitted,” he said.

“The third dose has been demonstrated to give us stronger and longer lasting protection.”

He said all public health programmes were now focused on protection against the disease.

“If I can get the third dose in to 80 per cent of the population, it means also that it will be a stronger move towards removing some of the mandates that we have,” he said.

Only 43 per cent of the population have received their booster dosage.

Ethnicity data

Dr Fong is not aware of the ethnicity data that is needed for children between five to 11 years old – the vaccine will be rolled out soon.

“Our focus is on actually vaccinating everybody. But we will have to look at it,” he said.

“I don’t think there’ll be too much difference between the various ethnicities from the preliminary site that I see.”

The ministry is already providing the fourth COVID-19 dosage and is registering children for its first-ever dosage.

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