Situational Report (19th June to 21st June, 2022) on COVID-19 in Samoa. The Ministry of Health has confirmed the death of a one year old baby girl from Covid-19. The Ministry update states that the toddler, who is not eligible for vaccination, had no other known health conditions.
The death of a one year old baby girl takes the total number of deaths to 29 for Samoa, according to MOH data.
“Out of respect for the families and relatives, we will not be making any further comments.”
In terms of numbers, children have not been the face of this pandemic. According to UNICEF, only 0.4% or 17,200 of the 4.4 million covid-19 deaths to date, are children or adolescents under 20 years old. Of that 17,200 – 53% occurred among adolescents aged 10-19 and only 47% or around 8,000 were children aged 0 to 9.
In New Zealand, a boy under the age of 10 was reported in December 2021 as the youngest person with Covid-19 to die in New Zealand, according to data on the Ministry of Health website. Also in December 2021, a coroner confirmed Australia’s youngest Covid-19 related death to be a 2-month old baby at Newcastle’s John Hunter hospital. A 2 year old boy with Covid and no underlying conditions had also died in a Sydney hospital in March 2022.
Children under the age of 5 remain the only age group no yet eligible for a Covid-19 vaccine in most countries, although in the United States, vaccine manufacturer Moderna have announced its vaccine is safe for children under 6 months old.
The Samoa Ministry of Health also reports 40 positive cases in the 2-day period under report, with one patient currently in managed isolation at Moto’otua Hospital, and none at ICU.
This latest report, from three days ago, confirms the total number of cases for Samoa, border and community, is at 14,812 to date.
The Ministry continues to urge members of the public health to continue to take heed of public health advice such as wearing facial masks, maintaining social distance, and washing of hands is important to maintain good personal hygiene and to contain the spread of the virus and prevent new infections.
“Vaccination remains our best defense against severe effects of the virus. Please visit the nearest hospital for your first or second dose, and booster. The safety of our families and loved ones is everyone’s responsibility.”
COVID-19 Situation Summary prepared by the Ministry of Health as at 2:00pm Local Time June 19th to 2:00pm June 21st, 2022 is provided in the table below:
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