Wellington (AFP)

Samoa came out on Thursday to carry out an unprecedented two-day vaccination campaign to try to stem a measles epidemic that has already killed 62 people, including dozens of children.

UNICEF Regional Representative for the Pacific, Sheldon Yett, called on social networks to take responsibility for cracking down on the proliferation of anti-vaccine messages, even if they make a click.

Authorities in the South Pacific archipelago (200,000 inhabitants) ordered the closure of all non-essential government businesses and services on Thursday and Friday, cut the inter-island ferry link and asked private vehicles not to move.

At dawn, hundreds of members of the vaccination teams, including government officials, went out door-to-door.

People who are not vaccinated against measles must display a flag or red cloth in front of their home to help teams spot them.

A red flag fluttered in front of Prime Minister Tuilaepa Sailele Malielegaoi's home. He said his nephew recently returned from Australia needed to be vaccinated.

The number of deaths from measles since mid-October reached 62 on Thursday, including 54 children under four years old. Children are also the majority of the 4,217 cases of contamination identified. 19 children are hospitalized in critical condition.

- "The whole country gets vaccinated" -

"I had seen massive campaigns before, but never across a country like that," Sheldon Yett said. "The whole country is being vaccinated".

The vaccination rate was 30% of the population before the beginning of the epidemic. It rose to 55% with a vaccination campaign started two weeks ago with children.

The intensification and expansion of the entire population of the campaign on Thursday and Friday, under the state of emergency decreed last month, is expected to raise this rate to more than 90% which should make the epidemic decline , according to Mr. Yett.

In the capital Apia, the streets were almost deserted and the markets of the waterfront, usually assaulted by tourists, empty and silent.

"It's very quiet here, we only hear a few dogs barking, the streets are empty, there are no cars, people are staying at home and waiting for the vaccination campaign," said Yett.

The World Health Organization (WHO) has blamed anti-vaccine campaigns for the drop in immunization coverage in Samoa before the outbreak.

The death of two babies last year after a measles vaccine undermined parental confidence and stopped the national immunization program for eight months. An investigation then cleared the vaccine and showed an error: the vaccine was not involved but had been administered mixed with anesthetics instead of water.

- A "devastating" impact -

But anti-vaccine activists jumped at the chance. According to Yett, their campaigns are often conducted from rich countries like the United States or Australia without awareness of their impact on poor countries. "It is devastating, it can condemn to death a child here where the rate of vaccination is low and where are added other health problems".

Last week, a blogger compared Australia's mandatory vaccination in Samoa to Nazi practices. Others have advocated alternative remedies with unproven efficacy.

If the priority is to control the epidemic, a discussion will be needed with internet giants like Facebook, Twitter and Instagram used by anti-vaccines, insisted Mr. Yett.

"It is very clear that they must exercise corporate responsibility to intervene and ensure that people, especially the most vulnerable, get accurate information that will help keep children alive," he says.

The Prime Minister, angry at reports that anti-vaccine parents were hiding their children, said: "vaccinating your children is the only way out."

According to WHO estimates, vaccination has saved the lives of 21 million children over the last twenty years.

In the neighboring islands of Tonga and Fiji, where vaccination coverage is approaching 90%, measles epidemics have also occurred, but without casualties.

© 2019 AFP