By Eleanor Gee

The COVID-19 vaccination will not turn people into zombies, change their DNA or put magnets into their arms. “I hope people will take note that some information circulating is just ridiculous,” said Ministry of Health CEO, Dr Siale ‘Akau‘ola yesterday.

He talked about the vaccine and hoped that Tongans will reject the unfounded misinformation some of them were being led to believe.

“The problem is lots of misinformation on social media causes people to be confused,” he said.

Dr ‘Akau‘ola said he had noticed some pastors spreading the misinformation they found on the internet on social media.

“I saw it and I was surprised people believe it!”

People need to think about it

One misinformation he viewed involved someone placing a magnet on their vaccinated arm and attributing that to a chip in the vaccine.

“I just think who would believe this information? People need to think about it: how can a magnet stick to something that doesn’t contain metal?”

Dr ‘Akau’ola said some people are convinced mRNA vaccines will alter their DNA but "according to science, this is impossible".

“There is no vaccine that will alter DNA. Maybe people think the RNA is the DNA. But the DNA is in the nucleus. The mRNA passes the message to make the protein. The mRNA will not go into the DNA. They have different natural roles."

Vaccine not new

With regards to the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine, Dr ‘Akau’ola explained it was not something that was quickly created in one year.

“The vehicle to put together the vaccine had already been researched by a team in Oxford over around eight years and prepared  for coronaviruses. It was done during SARS and MERS. The coronavirus is a family with lots of different types of viruses.”

He said that the vehicle put together by scientists was for preparation, in case of future coronavirus outbreaks.  

“What they did was take one of the antigens of the coronavirus family and add it to the vehicle that had already been prepared and tested.”

“When COVID-19 appeared, they noted that this particular coronavirus has spikes which spreads the virus. So, they took the messages from the spikes and put it into the vehicle. That’s why it was developed quickly to be used worldwide.”

He added it is the same sort of established technology used to put other vaccines together.

Law to address social media misuse

To deal with social media misuse, Tonga recently passed a new Communication Offences Bill.

MEIDECC CEO, Paula Ma’u, said the Ministry of Information and the Computer Emergency Response Team was working on this issue.

“There are cases that have been reported already and they are working with the Attorney General’s office and with the Police.”

COVID-19 vaccination rate

Currently, in Tonga 27,310 people or 43% of the target population (over 18-years-old) have been fully inoculated as at 31 August, said Dr ‘Akau’ola.

Around 41,857 people of the target population in Tonga have been vaccinated with the first dose of the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine.

People who have not yet received their second dose after the 12-week period, still have the chance to get inoculated.

“If you were busy or just forgot to get the second dose, you can still come and get the second dose as soon as possible,” said Dr Veisinia Matoto-Vaha'i.

Tonga’s death rate normal

There have been no changes in the natural death rate in Tonga since COVID-19 vaccinations started in April, confirmed Dr ‘Akau’ola.

The death rate in Tonga is over 500 annually, he said.

“So that’s almost two per day. And at the moment, there are a lot of deaths announced on the radio, and funerals are mainly held on the weekends.”

“So, we should be hearing of around 10 funerals every weekend. And that’s normal for Tonga.”

Next repatriation flight

The next repatriation flight to Tonga is planned for either 22rd or 23rd September from Australia, confirmed MEIDECC CEO, Paula Ma’u.

“If the flight can’t depart from Brisbane [depending on the COVID-19 situation], passengers may have to come from Townsville. We plan not to postpone any more flights from Australia.”

He added that if flights cannot depart from Brisbane due to COVID-19 cases, then the flight will depart from another town and passengers will have to make their way to that town.

Meanwhile, the repatriation flight from New Zealand will depend on the lockdown levels and their COVID-19 situation.

Dr 'Akau'ola said that flights from countries or places that have COVID-19 community transmission will not be allowed into Tonga right now.

However, Tonga is much better prepared for COVID-19 now than "what we were last year" especially with vaccinations underway.

Dr 'Akau'ola said the next step will be to look at repatriating people from places with COVID-19 community transmission.

More COVID-19 vaccines to arrive

More vaccines, including Pfizer, are due to arrive in Tonga during the last quarter of the year, he said.

“We hope to receive it before school exams or holidays in October or November. The Pfizer is for children aged 12-17 years old.”

“Pfizer is different to AstraZeneca as it has a shorter time span between doses. It’s only a month between the first and second doses. So, we should finish vaccinations before December.”

He said consultations would be held with parents and teachers on the vaccine program.