M.O.H Push For Children To Get Vaccinated
Vaccination drive by M.O.H
Photo: Eyespy Radio 87.5 FM / Anetone Sagaga
The officials at the Ministry of Health together with the Women's committee are urging the public of Samoa to get their children and young ones vaccinated and be inoculated from rubella , mumps and of course measles.
The MMR Vaccine is set to be dispursed out to all villages of Samoa , a top priority the Health Director Prof.Alec Ekeroma and the Ministry are trying their best to execute.
Samoa has not been affected yet , but with the cases known to have appeared in New Zealand and Australia in the end of January have raised concerns.
Specimens of two suspected measles cases were sent from the Motootua Hospital to New Zealand , were confirmed negative , according to Prof.Alec Ekeroma Samoa must be prepared and stay alert.
An announcement was made by the M.O.H about a week ago for the Samoan community to get their children vaccinated as of concerns that cases were rising in New Zealand and Australia.
With boarders opening the Ministry were urging the public to come forward , apparently not many parents showed up as per notice. Updates by the officials at Health stated they will head on out to villages and carry out the vaccination.
It was speculated that cases started from Australia , following passengers that flew from Abu Dhabi to Melbourne in late January was where health departments suspected the same passenger then flew to New Zealand causing the spread out to occur.
The Ministry of Health are urging the public to keep their childrens vaccination up to date for certain situations like this. Now with boarders opening , international travel is high risk of transferrable diseases.
Symptoms of measles can develop between 7 to 18 days after an individual (child) has been expose or infected. The best protection against measles , mumps and rubella are (MMR) Vaccine's. The vaccination is free.
According to statistics , the measles outbreak Samo endured back in 2019 recorded 5,700 cases and 83 (3% of Samoa's population) were victims that passed away from the epidemic. The cause of the outbreak was attributed to decreased vaccination rates, from 74% in 2017 to 31–34% in 2018, even though nearby islands had rates near 99%.