Authorities in Samoa have asked unvaccinated families to display a red flag outside their homes to help a mass immunisation drive aimed at halting a measles epidemic that has killed dozens of children
so public servants can help the vaccination campaign.
Over the two-day period, teams will go door-to-door administering vaccines in a desperate bid to raise the low immunity levels in Samoa that have fuelled the epidemic.TVNZ Immunisation is compulsory under a state of emergency imposed last month and officials asked unvaccinated families to identify themselves."The public is hereby advised to tie a red cloth or red flag in front of their houses and near the road to indicate that family members have not been vaccinated," a public advisory said. UNICEF is providing Samoa with an additional 100,000 measles vaccines.
Samoa has received aid to combat the crisis from Australia, New Zealand, France, Britain, China, Norway, Japan, the United States and the UN.
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