Health Secretary Disappointed With Fiji Times Headline

Permanent Secretary for Health Dr James Fong is disappointed with a recent headline published by The Fiji Times on their Facebook page.

The Fiji Times published an article with the headline, ‘Vaccines do not protect you from getting the virus’.

Speaking at yesterday’s press conference, Dr Fong said: “After yesterday’s (Monday) announcement, I have been extremely disappointed by media coverage that has been misleading.”

He said the headline was wrong and was contradicted by science. and many people would have been swayed by the headline 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.”

He said good information can be the difference between outbreak and containment when it comes to COVID-19 and the Health Ministry aims to release accurate information.

He said the ministry collects facts and data before releasing it, knowing that people have faith in the information they give and will base their decisions from that.

“Let me make something clear, and this is based on science: Vaccines absolutely do protect you from getting the virus, particularly after both doses of the vaccine are administered,” he said.

“So far, we have only administered the first of the two doses in Fiji, that means we’ve only offered partial protection.

“No one in Fiji is fully vaccinated yet. Not me, not any of our frontliners, not anyone.”

The Fiji Times Editor-in-Chief Fred Wesley said it was based on comments made by Dr Fong.

“In hindsight, readers who may not have read the article may have wrongly interpreted the headline. This is unfortunate,” he said.

Feedback:  fonua.talei@fijisun.com.fj