Jan 24, 2025 · Experts saw Samoa's plunging vaccination rates as a crisis. RFK Jr. saw an opportunity. New details show how Robert F. Kennedy Jr., then chair of an anti-vaccine group and now Trump’s pick for ...

2 days ago · RFK Jr. asked to explain vaccine stance, pressed about measles outbreak in Samoa 07:11. As U.S. senators grill Robert F. Kennedy Jr. this week, President Trump's pick to run the Department of ...

1 day ago · Among the exchanges, senators tied Kennedy's anti-vaccine commentary to the measles outbreak in Samoa six years ago, in which 83 people died. Vaccination rates for the disease had collapsed in the ...

2 days ago · As a result of the deaths and the ban, fewer than one-third of Samoa’s 1-year-olds received the MMR vaccine in 2018, down from as high as 90 percent in 2013, according to the World Health ...

1 day ago · Kennedy said his 2019 visit to Samoa was arranged by Edwin Tamasese, an anti-vaccine advocate who was later arrested during the outbreak.The purpose of Kennedy’s visit, Kennedy wrote on his blog, was to help the government introduce a medical tracking system to analyze the safety of vaccines and other drugs. Local leaders were interested in the system, Kennedy said, “following the ...

The outbreak is attributed to Samoa's sharp drop in measles vaccination from the previous year. [17]In 2013, 90% of babies in Samoa received the measles-mumps-rubella vaccination (MMR) at one year of age. [9]On 6 July 2018 on the east coast of Savai'i, two 12-month-old children died after receiving MMR vaccinations. [8] The cause of death was incorrect preparation of the vaccine by two nurses ...

Dec 2, 2019 · In July 2018, two infants died in Samoa after receiving vaccinations against measles, mumps and rubella, raising local fears over the vaccine itself. But the deaths were later established to...

Dec 9, 2024 · While the pain suffered by families is still evident, Samoa's health authorities say vaccination levels are now back on track. By the end of 2023, 87 per cent of children received their first dose of the measles vaccine and 75% received their second dose.

Samoa's current MMR vaccination effort aims to reach 95% for the first dose and 80% for the second by June. The program aims for 100% school-age kid coverage [ 3 ]. Department of Health established 17 island-wide mass immunization locations in response to the current outbreak [ 7 ].

Dec 16, 2019 · Multiple Facebook and Twitter posts claim that the measles vaccine is causing a deadly outbreak of the highly infectious disease in Samoa. People are being “killed off by the vaccine,” claims...