Mother shares joy at resumption of M.M.R. vaccination

By Talaia Mika 15 April 2019, 12:00AM

A Samoan mother has welcomed the news by the Ministry of Health (M.O.H.) of the resumption of the measles, mumps and rubella (M.M.R.) vaccination programme.

Leiyang Sam Ling from Puipa’a has just given birth to her two-weeks-old daughter, Janice Aneta Sam Ling.  She says her worries of not having her child vaccinated faded when she heard the news.

“The health of my baby was risky because I knew that the vaccination was banned but surprisingly the good news came and I am very happy and blessed.

“I know that the issue with the medical mistakes of the nurses on the vaccination was not well but that is a mistake the nurses have to learn from and push them to be more careful with their job,” she said.

Her mother, Nive Sam Ling also expressed similar sentiments during an interview with Samoa Observer.

“Everybody makes mistakes and to be honest, I was waiting for the vaccination to continue very soon and here it is.

“I believe in the work of our nurses and I believe that vaccination is a very good way to protect our children from bacteria and diseases because the world is changing and we don’t know for sure if our traditional methods can still protect our children from various diseases,” she added. 

The Ministry of Health (M.O.H.) had announced yesterday that the M.M.R vaccination programme will resume after it was suspended, following the deaths of two babies in Savai'i last year after they were administered with the vaccines. 

Ministry's CEO Leausa Dr. Take Naseri, in an interview with Samoa Observer last week, said training has been conducted for health professionals and new refrigerators are in place to properly store vaccines. With these and other precautions in place, he is ready to resume the vaccination program nationwide.

“MMR is 100 per cent safe,” Leausa said.

“We have a lot of work to win back the confidence of our people to the vaccination process but naturally we have a lot of people coming and requesting the immunization. They are concerned about their children.” 

Leausa said as of yesterday, the Tupua Tamasese Meaole Hospital will vaccinate all children, including those who missed out between July and April, and any adults who want to be vaccinated. The district hospitals will be resuming their programmes as required.

By Talaia Mika 15 April 2019, 12:00AM

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