Samoa has passed a law to make childhood vaccinations compulsory as the Pacific nation continues efforts to contain a devastating measles outbreak that by yesterday had killed 77 people, mostly infants.
The country introduced mandatory vaccination as part of a state of emergency declared last month, when the scale of infection sweeping through the 200,000-strong population became apparent.
The move, along with other drastic actions, such as shutting down the entire country for two days this month while mobile vaccination teams went door-to door, has succeeded in lifting immunization rates from about 30 percent to 94 percent.
Samoan Prime Minister Tuilaepa Sailele Malielegaoi said that compulsory vaccinations would now be a permanent part of Samoa’s healthcare system to safeguard against future epidemics.
He dubbed the legislation, which was passed by the Samoan Legislative Assembly on Tuesday and takes effect next month, the “law of love,” saying that it reflected Samoa’s commitment to its children.
“Government will no longer be standing on the sidelines,” Malielegaoi told the legislature. “Samoa is setting a milestone to which its foreign-country friends could follow to ensure the safety of our children.”
Under the law, parents who do not ensure their children are vaccinated, or falsify vaccination records, face fines of up to 10,000 tala (US$3,766).
Unvaccinated children would be barred from schools and principals who accept them also face 10,000 tala fines.
Village councils and schools are expected to have policies in place to ensure all children are vaccinated.
Organizations such as the WHO and the UN Children’s Fund have blamed the low immunization rates that left Samoa vulnerable to measles on anti-vaccination misinformation spread online by overseas-based activists.
Samoan authorities arrested one vocal anti-vaccination campaigner earlier this month and charged him with incitement as part of a government crackdown.
Other measles outbreaks in Pacific nations that had higher vaccination rates have been more easily contained and not resulted in any deaths.
The epidemic in Samoa is not over, even though infection rates and fatality numbers have decreased as a result of the mass vaccination push.
The government yesterday reported that there had been 53 new cases in the previous 24 hours, taking the total to 5,424, with the number of deaths rising by one to 77.
There are also 17 children critically ill in hospitals.
Infants are the most vulnerable to measles, which typically causes a rash and fever, but can also lead to brain damage and death.
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