Misinformation fuels Papua New Guinea’s Covid crisis

Australian officials carry boxes containing some 8,000 initial doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine following their arrival on board a Royal Australian Air Force plane at the Port Moresby international airport in Papua New Guinea — AFP

Misinformation threatens to scuttle Papua New Guinea’s already faltering efforts to bring a severe Covid-19 outbreak under control, with a survey showing one-in-four health workers are reluctant to get vaccinated.

After a year without widespread community transmission, the impoverished Melanesian nation is now seeing record numbers of new infections almost every day.