Samoa Launches Massive Door to Door Vaccination Campaign

August 11, 2021

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11 August 2021 Apia Samoa. The Ministry of Health has announced a “Door to Door Mass Vaccination Campaign” for Samoa starting today Wednesday 11th August to next Friday 20th August 2021.

The announcement signed by Health Director Leausa Dr Take Naseri calls for all families to hang a red flag or red piece of cloth infront of their homes to indicate that vaccination is needed.

The move comes as Samoa passes the 60% mark of first doses and 24% of those fully vaccinated.

As of the 8th August, Samoa has achieved 71,957 of the first dose and 28,653 of eligible adults fully vaccinated.

At the start of the vaccination programme Leausa estimated 117,000 adults over 18 were eligible for the Covid-19 vaccination. The Minsitry of Health and the National Emergency Operations Centre have now also looked at options to secure vaccines for children over 12 years.

As of the 8th August, Samoa has achieved almost 72,000 or 60% of the first dose while 24% have been fully vaccinated.

The Director General of Health Leausa Take Naseri and the head of NEOC Agafili Tomaimano Shem Leo have led Samoa’s efforts to protect borders and remain covid-19 free since the pandemic took the world by storm over 18 months ago.

AstraZeneca is a two-dose vaccine approved by the World Health Organisation (WHO) and distributed by the COVAX facility and its partners. COVAX is co-led by CEPI, Gavi and WHO, alongside key delivery partner UNICEF.

Samoa has received its doses through the Covax faculty with the remaining doses being supplied through joint efforts of the Samoa Government and its development partners.

The AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine has been linked to rare cases of blood clotting and although various countries did temporarily suspend its use at the beginning, many have since resumed with confirmation that the benefits to saving lives when a breakout occurs, far outweighs the losses as the world tries to combat the global pandemic.