Friday, June 24, 2022
manilastandard.net
ADVERTISEMENT
  • About
  • News
    • Top Stories
    • National
    • World News
    • Pinoy Abroad
    • Features
  • Opinion
    • Editorial
    • Columns
    • Soundbytes
  • LGUs
    • NCR
    • Luzon
    • Visayas
    • Mindanao
  • Business
    • Corporate
    • Economy & Trade
    • Stocks
    • Money
    • Agri & Mining
    • Power & Tech
    • IT & Telecom
  • Sports
    • Basketball
    • Volleyball
    • Fightsports
    • Active
    • Sports Plus
    • One Championship
    • Columns
  • Entertainment
    • TV & Movies
    • Celebrity Profiles
    • Music & Concerts
    • Digital Media
    • Columns
  • Lifestyle
    • Food
    • Culture & Media
    • Fashion
    • Health and Home
    • Leisure
    • Shopping
    • Columns
  • Others
    • Pets
    • Pop.Life
      • Newsmakers
      • Hangouts
      • A-Pop
      • Post Its
      • Performances
      • Malls & Bazaars
      • Hobbies & Collections
    • Technology
      • Gadgets
      • Computers
      • Business
      • Tech Plus
    • MS ON THE ROAD
      • Sedan
      • SUV
      • Truck
      • Bike
      • Accessories
      • Motoring Plus
      • Commuter’s Corner
    • Home & Design
      • Residential
      • Commercial
      • Construction
      • Interior
    • Spotlight
    • Gallery
      • Photos
      • Videos
    • Events
      • Seminars
      • Exhibits
      • Community
    • Biyahero
      • Travel Features
      • Travel Reels
      • Travel Logs
  • Advertise with Us
No Result
View All Result
  • About
  • News
    • Top Stories
    • National
    • World News
    • Pinoy Abroad
    • Features
  • Opinion
    • Editorial
    • Columns
    • Soundbytes
  • LGUs
    • NCR
    • Luzon
    • Visayas
    • Mindanao
  • Business
    • Corporate
    • Economy & Trade
    • Stocks
    • Money
    • Agri & Mining
    • Power & Tech
    • IT & Telecom
  • Sports
    • Basketball
    • Volleyball
    • Fightsports
    • Active
    • Sports Plus
    • One Championship
    • Columns
  • Entertainment
    • TV & Movies
    • Celebrity Profiles
    • Music & Concerts
    • Digital Media
    • Columns
  • Lifestyle
    • Food
    • Culture & Media
    • Fashion
    • Health and Home
    • Leisure
    • Shopping
    • Columns
  • Others
    • Pets
    • Pop.Life
      • Newsmakers
      • Hangouts
      • A-Pop
      • Post Its
      • Performances
      • Malls & Bazaars
      • Hobbies & Collections
    • Technology
      • Gadgets
      • Computers
      • Business
      • Tech Plus
    • MS ON THE ROAD
      • Sedan
      • SUV
      • Truck
      • Bike
      • Accessories
      • Motoring Plus
      • Commuter’s Corner
    • Home & Design
      • Residential
      • Commercial
      • Construction
      • Interior
    • Spotlight
    • Gallery
      • Photos
      • Videos
    • Events
      • Seminars
      • Exhibits
      • Community
    • Biyahero
      • Travel Features
      • Travel Reels
      • Travel Logs
  • Advertise with Us
No Result
View All Result
manilastandard.net
No Result
View All Result
Home News World News

Samoa shuts in fight against measles crisis

AFPbyAFP
December 5, 2019, 6:45 pm
in World News
Reading Time: 3 mins read
A A
72
SHARES
Share on FacebookShare on TwitterShare on Email

WELLINGTON”•Samoa entered a two-day lockdown Thursday to carry out an unprecedented mass vaccination drive aimed at containing a devastating measles epidemic that has killed dozens of children in the Pacific island nation.

As the death toll climbed to 62, officials ordered all businesses and non-essential government services to close, shut down inter-island ferries and told people to keep their cars off the roads.

Residents were advised to obey a dawn-to-dusk curfew, staying in their homes and displaying a red flag if any occupants were not yet immunized.

Hundreds of vaccination teams, including public servants drafted in for the operation, fanned out across the nation of 200,000 in the early hours of the morning.

They plan to go door-to-door in villages and towns to administer mandatory vaccinations in red-flagged houses. 

ADVERTISEMENT

The markets on Apia’s waterfront, usually packed with tourists buying handicrafts, were silent as stalls stood empty, while there was hardly any traffic in the city center.

“It’s very, very quiet out here. I can just hear a few barking dogs. The streets are empty. There are no cars,” UNICEF’s Pacific islands chief Sheldon Yett told AFP.

“People are staying at home waiting for the vaccination campaign. The teams are getting their supplies together and getting ready to go out.”

The operation, carried out under emergency powers invoked as the epidemic took hold last month, is a desperate bid to halt measles infection rates that have been inexorably rising since mid-October, with most of the victims young children.

“I’ve seen mass mobilisation campaigns before, but not over an entire country like this,” Yett said.

“That’s what we’re doing right now. This entire country is being vaccinated.”

The immunization rates in Samoa dropped steeply to just 30 percent before the outbreak, the World Health Organization said, blaming an anti-vaccine messaging campaign. 

Two babies died after receiving measles vaccination shots last year, which lead to the temporary suspension of the country’s immunization program and dented parents’ trust in the vaccine. 

It was later found the deaths were caused when other medicines were incorrectly administered.

Rates of 90 percent are international best practice. Immunization rates in Pacific island nations Tonga and Fiji are at around 90 percent, and their measles outbreaks have been far milder. 

Yett said social media had been used to spread anti-vaccination misinformation in Samoa and the online giants running the platforms needed to clamp down on such “incredibly irresponsible” material.

“It’s quite clear that they have a corporate responsibility to step up to the plate and make sure that populations, particularly vulnerable populations, get accurate information that’s going to keep children alive,” he said.

Samoa’s immunization rate has risen to 55 percent over the past fortnight and Yett said this week’s two-day drive aimed to push it above 90 percent, which should help curb the current outbreak and stop future epidemics.

Even Prime Minister Tuilaepa Sailele Malielegaoi’s residence had a red flag fluttering outside it on Thursday, with the leader saying his nephew had recently arrived from Australia and needed a measles shot.

Malielegaoi said he was angered by anecdotal reports some anti-vaccination parents were encouraging their children to hide from the teams to avoid the mandatory injection. 

“The only cure for this is vaccination… having your children vaccinated is the only way,” he said.

Malielegaoi rejected accusations that his government had contributed to the crisis by not acting more decisively to address the long-term decline in immunization rates. 

“I think you’re talking to the wrong people, we did it many, many times,” he told reporters.

Children are the most vulnerable to measles, which typically causes a rash and fever but can also lead to brain damage and death.

The latest figures show that 54 of the 62 dead were aged four or less and infants account for most of the 4,217 cases recorded since the outbreak began in mid-October.

A further 19 children are critically ill in hospital.

Samoa has received aid to combat the crisis from Australia, New Zealand, France, Britain, China, Norway, Japan, American Samoa, the United States and the UN.

But efforts so far have failed to stop infection spreading, prompting this week’s drastic escalation in the immunization campaign.

Samoans can expect no immediate relief even if the national shutdown succeeds in boosting vaccination rates as the injection typically takes 10-14 days to become effective.

There have also been measles epidemics in neighboring Fiji and Tonga, but higher immunization rates mean they have been more easily contained, with no fatalities.

Tags: epidemicMeaslesSamoa
ADVERTISEMENT
AFP

AFP

Related Posts

Rescuers rush to reach Afghan quake survivors

byAFP
June 23, 2022, 7:40 pm
0
140
At least 1,000 killed in Afghan quake, with fear toll will rise

Desperate rescuers battled against the clock and heavy rain Thursday to reach cut-off areas in eastern Afghanistan after a powerful...

Read more

EU debates Ukraine bid to join bloc

byAFP
June 23, 2022, 7:30 pm
0
137
Southwoods nails Seniors’ Fil golf crown

EU leaders will gather in Brussels Thursday to discuss calls to formally grant war-torn Ukraine “candidate status” to join the...

Read more

Monkeypox vax maker ready for orders

byAFP
June 23, 2022, 7:20 pm
0
139
Southwoods nails Seniors’ Fil golf crown

As the lone laboratory manufacturing a licensed vaccine against monkeypox, Danish company Bavarian Nordic has seen its order book fill...

Read more

UK by-elections: Fresh threat to Johnson

byAFP
June 23, 2022, 7:10 pm
0
147
Boris Johnson to face MPs’ fury over ‘partygate’

Voters head to the polls on Thursday in two closely watched UK by-elections that risk renewing pressure on beleaguered Prime...

Read more

Cuba sentences 74 anti-government protesters

byAFP
June 23, 2022, 7:00 pm
0
140
Southwoods nails Seniors’ Fil golf crown

Judicial authorities in Havana, Santiago, and Matanzas announced sentences for 74 defendants accused of sedition, public disorder, and other crimes...

Read more

Junta: Suu Kyi moved to solitary confinement

byAFP
June 23, 2022, 6:50 pm
0
136
Southwoods nails Seniors’ Fil golf crown

Ousted Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi has been moved from house arrest to solitary confinement in a prison compound...

Read more

Stories you may like

  • Ex-Naga dad links Leni’s brother-in-law to illegal drugs

    Ex-Naga dad links Leni’s brother-in-law to illegal drugs

    36690 shares
    Share 14676 Tweet 9173
  • Of course, it was BBM’s project

    30854 shares
    Share 12342 Tweet 7714
  • INC endorses BBM, Sara

    28799 shares
    Share 11520 Tweet 7200
  • Duterte’s seven biggest achievements

    21757 shares
    Share 8703 Tweet 5439
  • Marcos leads SWS survey on presidentiables at 50%

    13581 shares
    Share 5432 Tweet 3395

Print Edition

View More

Recent Posts

  • Sneakers for Makati : AB4.0
  • Ex-PAL exec to head DOTr
  • PH drops oil, gas talks with China—DFA
  • UN: Internet shutdowns do great damage
  • Comelec rejects bid vs. Guanzon as party-list sub
  • Esperon claims blocked websites sow enmity, discord
  • COVID vax for kids below 5 yrs. eyed
  • All’s well that ends well: Face mask issue cleared

Advertisement

Latest News

Esperon claims blocked websites sow enmity, discord

byMaricel Cruzand1 others
June 24, 2022, 1:20 am
0
135

National Security Adviser Hermogenes Esperon on Thursday defended his request to have 26 websites blocked, which he said have sowed...

Read more

COVID vax for kids below 5 yrs. eyed

byWillie Casas
June 24, 2022, 1:10 am
0
135
Atayde unveils ‘smart’ x-ray machine for QC

The Philippines is looking into the possibility of vaccinating children below 5 years old against COVID-19, an official of the...

Read more

All’s well that ends well: Face mask issue cleared

byWillie Casas
June 24, 2022, 1:00 am
0
148
Pinoys must brace for global recession—solon

The national government and the Cebu provincial government have agreed to end their stand-off on the enforcement of the face...

Read more

Flexi-work in ecozones extended

byOthel V. Campos
June 24, 2022, 12:50 am
0
132
Vax wastage, infection surge feared in Odette-hit areas

The Fiscal and Incentives Review Board (FIRB) has approved the extension of the work-from-home (WFH) set-up in businesses located in...

Read more

‘Billions to die of diseases as food crisis hits’

byMaricel Cruz
June 24, 2022, 12:40 am
0
143
Vax wastage, infection surge feared in Odette-hit areas

Yogyakarta, Indonesia—The global food crisis sparked by the war in Ukraine will kill millions by leaving the hungriest more vulnerable...

Read more

Advertisement

ADVERTISEMENT
Facebook Twitter Instagram Youtube

ABOUT US

Manila Standard

Manila Standard website (manilastandard.net), launched in August 2002, extends the newspaper’s reach beyond its traditional readers and makes its brand of Philippine news and opinion available to a much wider and geographically diverse readership here and overseas.

Digital Edition

In tone and content, the online edition mirrors the editorial thrust of the newspaper. While hewing to the traditional precepts of fairness and objectivity, MS believes the news of the day need not be staid, overly long or dry. Stories are succinct, readable and written in a lively style that has become a hallmark of the newspaper.

Download – Today’s Paper

Search

No Result
View All Result

6th Floor Universal Re Bldg., 106 Paseo De Roxas cor. Perea Street, Legaspi Village, 1226 Makati City Philippines

Trunklines: 832-5554, 832-5556, 832-5558

© 2021 Manila Standard - Designed and Developed by Neitiviti Studios.

No Result
View All Result
  • About
  • News
    • Top Stories
    • National
    • World News
    • Pinoy Abroad
    • Features
  • Opinion
    • Editorial
    • Columns
    • Soundbytes
  • LGUs
    • NCR
    • Luzon
    • Visayas
    • Mindanao
  • Business
    • Corporate
    • Economy & Trade
    • Stocks
    • Money
    • Agri & Mining
    • Power & Tech
    • IT & Telecom
  • Sports
    • Basketball
    • Volleyball
    • Fightsports
    • Active
    • Sports Plus
    • One Championship
    • Columns
  • Entertainment
    • TV & Movies
    • Celebrity Profiles
    • Music & Concerts
    • Digital Media
    • Columns
  • Lifestyle
    • Food
    • Culture & Media
    • Fashion
    • Health and Home
    • Leisure
    • Shopping
    • Columns
  • Pop.Life
    • Newsmakers
    • Hangouts
    • A-Pop
    • Post Its
    • Performances
    • Malls & Bazaars
    • Hobbies & Collections
  • Technology
    • Gadgets
    • Computers
    • Business
    • Tech Plus
  • MS ON THE ROAD
    • Sedan
    • SUV
    • Truck
    • Bike
    • Accessories
    • Motoring Plus
    • Commuter’s Corner
  • Home & Design
    • Residential
    • Commercial
    • Construction
    • Interior
  • Spotlight
  • Gallery
    • Photos
    • Videos
  • Events
    • Seminars
    • Exhibits
    • Community
  • Biyahero
    • Travel Features
    • Travel Reels
    • Travel Logs
  • Pets
  • Advertise with Us

© 2021 Manila Standard - Designed and Developed by Neitiviti Studios.

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In

Install Manila Standard Web App

Install App