Calls to restart vaccinations in Samoa

The Samoa Nurses Association has added its voice to calls to restart an immunisation programme after the deaths of two babies in July.

The programme was stopped after the one year olds died following injections for measles, mumps and rubella.

The nurses made their submission on Wednesday to a Commission of Inquiry into the deaths.

Commission members asked about a loss of trust in health professionals and the vaccines and the Ministry of Health told them safety measures are in place to resume the programme.

RNZ Pacific reports the commission was awaiting post mortem results before it resumed the programme.

The commission heard some children have developed whooping cough since the vaccination programme was put on hold two months ago.

The National Health Service had not resumed the programme despite the Ministry of Health giving it the green light.