Prof Siba said he was the first person in the country to lead the anti-vaccination campaign against the AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccination programme, The National newspaper reports.

 

He said after monitoring research, developments and roll-out of the various brands of the Covid-19 vaccines globally and in the country, he finally decided to be vaccinated.

 

Prof Siba, who is the former director of the PNG Institute of Medical Research, said the Delta variant was an evidently virulent strain that was highly pathogenic and was causing havoc, including deaths.

 

He received his Johnson and Johnson vaccine at the Modilion General Hospital in Madang on October 13.

 

When asked why he decided to go against his anti-vaccination campaign and get vaccinated, Prof Siba said as a frontline health researcher, Divine Word University (DWU) lecturer and community leader, he had to get vaccinated to stop the virus from spreading among his family members, students, community, colleagues and the public.

 

Prof Siba is currently the director of DWU's centre for health research and diagnostics faculty of medicine and health sciences at the Modilon Campus.