Samoa Stops MMR Vaccination After 2 Babies Die Within Minutes of Being Injected

On July 6th, two 1-year-old Samoan children died within minutes of being vaccinated with the MMR vaccine at Safotu Hospital in Savaii, Samoa.

Parents of the first child spoke with Samoan TV1 and said their daughter, Lannacallystah Samuelu, died within 3 minutes of being injected with the MMR vaccine by a nurse.

The second family arrived at the hospital within 2 hours of the first baby's death. The mother heard about the death of the first baby, and refused to allow her son to be vaccinated. The mother says the nurse ignored her refusal of consent and administered the MMR vaccine anyways. Her son, Lameko Siu, was dead within minutes as well.

Later that day, Dr. Take Naseri of the Ministry of Health ordered all MMR vaccinations to stop and have all remaining vaccines seized. A full investigation was then ordered. A forensic autopsy is being done to try to determine the official cause of death.

Samoan Prime Minister Tuilaepa Lupesoliai Dr. Sailele Malielegaoi made a statement expression his condolences for the loss of the children. The PM mentioned how he has experiences vaccine injury within his own family. His grandson was injured, saying he "almost lost one of my grandsons". The grandson lives, but "lost the ability to speak."

As a grandfather and father, I can relate to the grief by the families for their loss.
I also almost lost one of my grandsons several years ago under similar circumstances.
But with the Grace of our Father in Heaven, my grandson survived with the proper treatment. But he will never be the same as he has lost the ability to speak.
As Prime Minister, I have called a full inquiry into the circumstances leading up to this devastating incident which I do not take lightly.
There are already processes that will determine if negligence is a factor. And if so, rest assured those processes will be implemented to the letter to ensure that such a tragedy will not be repeated and those responsible will be made to answer.
The deaths also reaffirm the desires behind the government to proceed with the merger between the National Health Services and the Ministry of Health at full speed. When completed, the merge will ensure that incidents of this nature will not be repeated. It is a message to our people that deaths of the two young infants are not in vain.
Providing quality health care for our people remains a key government priority.

The Office of the Director General Health issued a press release later the next week, saying they were bringing in help from "a Forensic Pathology team from Melbourne, Australia, to support the Government in the forensic work that will contribute to the evaluation of the deaths."

The Ministry of Health has issues a temporary suspension of the vaccine for now. They say the vaccine is assessed for safety by the WHO. The vaccine they had arrived in Samoa in August 2017:

Samoa procures a 5 dose vial MMR vaccine through UNICEF. The vaccine is a WHO prequalified MMR vaccine, which means that it is regularly assessed for safety and quality. This particular vaccine batch lot arrived to Samoa in August 2017 and has been in use since then.

Despite the incidence in Samoa and others in the world regarding vaccine injury from MMR, Dr. T Naseri iterated how important vaccines are and to maintain confidence in their safety:

A number of media outlets are already covering these tragic events, speculating on the cause of death before the investigation is completed, and the stories have been picked up by the anti-vaccination movement.
The health of our children relies on trust in national immunization program, and your efforts to maintain confidence in the safety of vaccines are critical.

---

Thank you for your time and attention. Peace.

---

_{If you appreciate and value the content, please consider: Upvoting, Sharing or Reblogging below.
me for more content to come!}

---

_{My goal is to share knowledge, truth and moral understanding in order to help change the world for the better. If you appreciate and value what I do, please consider supporting me as a Steem Witness by voting for me at the bottom of the Witness page.}