A civil society group in Fiji say the success of a Covid-19 vaccine rollout to Fijians under the age of 18 will require a better understanding of the reasons for hesitancy in Fiji.
Health workers wait for residents for their dose of AstraZeneca vaccine outside a vaccination center in Suva, after Fiji announced plans to make the coronavirus vaccine compulsory for all workers as it battles a runaway outbreak of the Delta variant. Photo: AFP or licensors
In a recent study, Dialogue Fiji found the majority of those surveyed believed the Covid-19 vaccine was "very safe".
The survey 'Determinants of Covid-19 Vaccines Hesitancy in Fiji' was conducted from June 25 to July 10 this year.
It also showed that public confidence in the effectiveness of the vaccines may be affected by perceived risks associated with vaccination.
"Of the 1047 respondents, only 53.9 percent reported the vaccine was 'very safe', while 19.4 percent reported the vaccines to be 'little safe' to 'not safe at all'," Dialogue Fiji stated.
Dialogue Fiji chief executive Nilesh Lal said the research was commissioned in July - "at a time when vaccine hesitancy was very high and threatened the success of the covid-19 vaccination campaign in Fiji."
He said the Government's 'no jab, no job' policy and the tying of eligibility of state welfare benefits to vaccination had been effective inducements in increasing vaccine intake.
Nilesh Lal. Photo: Supplied/Dialogue Fiji
But he said these ultimatums and incentives would not work when trying to convince those aged below 18 to vaccinate.
"I don't think the Government is going to be giving welfare benefits to under 18 year olds," Lal said. "These are important questions for policy makers to grapple with.
"To effectively address the issue of vaccine hesitancy, understanding the reasons for hesitancy, the sources of misinformation about the vaccine, and how Fijians accessed their covid vaccine-related information and processed it, becomes critical.
Lal said it was also very important not to implement measures just to improve vaccine uptake. He said they must also ensure legitimate concerns that people raise are not disregarded.
Nilesh Lal said while over 95 percent of the adult population had received their first dose of the vaccine, "it's important to note that even reaching 100 percent of the current target translated to only around only 65 percent of Fiji's total population.
"Such coverage is not enough to contain the highly virulent Delta variant of Covid-19 let alone achieve herd immunity.
"Infectious disease experts no longer believe that herd immunity is possible with the current generation of vaccines as they do not block infection or further transmission, therefore vaccinating every member of the population will become necessary," said Nilesh Lal.
The Dialogue Fiji study was conducted as part of its Commonwealth Foundation-funded project 'Strengthening citizen engagement in Covid-19 policy and decision-making.'