Mass Vaccination Drive

Today was the final day of a nation-wide shut down while vaccination teams visit households to administer shots in an effort to stem a deadly measles epidemic.

Josh Green is leading a team of 70 healthcare professionals from Hawai'i assisting in Samoa.

The death toll from the outbreak now stands at 63 measles with one fatality over the last 24 hours.

Mr Green said he had witnessed the toll of the outbreak first-hand but was hopeful of an end in sight, with the government reporting over 17,000 vaccines had been administered over the first day.

This was confirmed by Samoa’s Immigration Chief Executive Officer Agafili Tomaimano Shem Leo during the mass vaccination drive that is currently underway in Samoa.

Leo and his team from the Ministry of Prime Minister and Cabinet (MPMC) went out to the isolated families providing transport for Tufulele residents to the Catholic Church hall for their vaccination injections.

“In some cases, none of the children from 3 years to 10 years have never been vaccinated because of their remote location,” said the CEO. “Many did not have any transport means,” Leo said.