Widespread mistrust and rejection of the COVID-19 vaccine in Papua New Guinea (PNG) is associated with an increase in mothers choosing not to bring their children for other vaccinations.

And as immunity levels drop in the most populous Pacific island nation, it’s only a matter of time before a devastating disease outbreak strikes, health experts say.

The country successfully contained the COVID pandemic with draconian measures, including border closures, until March 2021 when cases began to surge. PNG now records a total of 46,427 cases, including 909 in the past month and a half.

However, COVID vaccination coverage in this large Pacific island nation remains dramatically low at just 7% of the population for the first dose and 5% for the second dose. In contrast, his COVID vaccine uptake rate in Fiji is 99% the first time and 89% the second time.

Distrust of COVID vaccines in PNG extends to general distrust of all vaccinations, according to local medical experts.

Professor Glenn Mora, Director of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Health at the Department of Medicine and Health Sciences, University of Papua New Guinea at Port, said: It is a cause of hesitation,” he said. Moresby.

Mora told Al Jazeera that it was based on a “false fear that nurses at baby clinics would secretly vaccinate babies for COVID-19.”

PNG’s health services have been severely strained by the demands of the pandemic, largely due to low public mistrust of vaccines.

Dr David Mills, of Kompiam Rural Hospital in the remote Enga Province, located in the mountainous highlands of mainland Papua New Guinea, said there are serious health implications as infant vaccinations decline.

According to the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), coverage for the third dose of the critical DTP (diphtheria, tetanus and pertussis) vaccine among PNG infants, for example, plummeted from 64% in 2009 to 31% last year.

Referring to the “persistence of conspiracy theories” about COVID and the exaggeration and perception of the level of threat it poses to PNG, Dr Mills said, “Trust in the health system is generally poorly informed. It’s getting worse because of it,” he said. The COVID health messages were being distributed only for financial incentives.

“Measles and whooping cough epidemics expected [whooping cough] With chronically low vaccination coverage, poliomyelitis and poliomyelitis could break out at any time. Of particular concern is measles,” he said.

Even before COVID-19, there were many challenges in rolling out routine infant immunization programs in PNG, where more than 80% of the population lives in rural and remote areas.

In the highlands, medical services are available to a very limited extent beyond major urban centers. Nationwide, PNG has a shortage of qualified health professionals. In this country, he has less than 1,000 doctors for a population of about 9 million.

Although the country’s infant mortality rate has declined over the past 15 years, the neonatal and infant mortality rates are among the highest in the region, at 22 and 35 per 1,000 live births, respectively.

The PNG government recommends that all children up to the age of two should be vaccinated against at least tuberculosis (BCG vaccine), diphtheria, tetanus, whooping cough, polio and measles. However, the proportion of children in this age group who completed all basic immunizations decreased from 52% in 2006 to 35% in 2018, while the proportion of children who were not vaccinated decreased to 7 in the same period. % to 24%.

The outbreak of the COVID pandemic in early 2020 has put an even greater strain on PNG’s already fragile health system, and opposition to a COVID vaccine has become an even greater obstacle, according to humanitarian group ChildFund’s PNG said Olive Oa, Wellness Program Manager at .

“Initially, when the pandemic first hit the country, there was a lot of misinformation. [about COVID-19] …was circulated before official information was available,” Orr told Al Jazeera.

“Vaccine hesitation was prevalent not only among mothers, but among the general public, including health workers at all levels. Oa, who trains health care workers in

A telephone survey conducted in the country last year found that 78% of respondents not planning to get the COVID vaccine were worried about side effects, 53% had no confidence in the vaccine, and 23% said the vaccine would work. It became clear that he said he did not think so. , according to a World Bank report.

The Center for Development Policy at the Australian National University reported that immunization coverage among children in Papua New Guinea has fallen to dangerous levels. For example, a recent study in the Highland West and Hella provinces revealed that only 20.6% of her children had received her 3 or more doses, and 31% had not been vaccinated at all. rice field.

Health experts believe that declining vaccination coverage in the country is the main cause of the 2014 measles outbreak, the 2018 polio resurgence and the ongoing tuberculosis epidemic.

The country’s health ministry is now warning that “there will be another measles epidemic in the coming years” if urgent measures are not taken.

Amid dire projections, the PNG government has outlined a strategy to upgrade community-level health facilities in rural communities, train more health workers and expand the reach of immunization programs. requires a lot of money and investment.

Health researchers also recommend more effective engagement with communities to increase public trust in health services and amplify public health messages about the importance of COVID and other vaccinations.

Based on her experience in the field, Olive Oa says, “Education needs to be central.”

That means educating health workers, trainee health professionals, parents, community leaders and religious groups about the value of COVID and other vaccines, she says.