Papua New Guinea bars Chinese workers in vaccine trial over virus risk

Papua New Guinea has denied entry to Chinese nationals who participated in a COVID-19 vaccine trial.

The workers had been due to fly from the northern city of Tianjin to the Ramu Nico plant in northern Papua New Guinea run by state-run Metallurgical Corporation of China ltd (MCC).

The Australian said Papua New Guinea’s head of disaster management, David Manning, denied access for the workers after being told of the vaccinations.

Manning said the government demands and deserves to fully understand the vaccine development and SARS-COV-2 vaccine immunisation program undertaken in China and its potential risks before Chinese travel requests could be approved.

He noted that any vaccines imported into the country must be approved by NDOH and must go through vigorous vaccine trials, protocols and procedures and also get a pass from who