Measles Emergency Ends – level 3
06-01-2020 15:00
On Saturday, the Samoan government unanimously approved the cancellation of the state of emergency, which was in place since November 2019.
Under the state of emergency, schools were closed, young people could not attend public events and all citizens were ordered to get vaccinated.
According to the Ministry of Health, more than 5,600 cases of measles have been reported since the outbreak began. The disease has killed 81 people, and most of them were children.
According to the World Health Organization, 90% of babies received the measles vaccine in 2013. However, the number plummeted to 31% in 2018, due to the spread of false information, and a 2018 scandal where improperly prepared vaccines caused the deaths of two Samoan children.
The government said that in December, 2019, approximately 95% of all eligible people in Samoa were vaccinated against measles.
Difficult words: unanimously (with the agreement of all people in a group), plummet (to fall very quickly and suddenly), eligible (a state when a person has the right qualities or fulfills the necessary conditions).
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