Wellington (AFP)

Samoa was snapped for the second day in a row Friday to carry out an unprecedented two-day vaccination campaign to try to stem a measles epidemic that has already killed 63 people, including dozens of children.

Authorities in the South Pacific archipelago (200,000 inhabitants) warned that they would not tolerate any misinformation on the part of anti-vaccine movements. They announced the arrest of a well-known and particularly virulent activist who opposed the massive vaccination campaign.

UNICEF Regional Representative for the Pacific, Sheldon Yett, also called on social networks to take responsibility for cracking down on the proliferation of anti-vaccine messages.

Samoa ordered the closure of all non-essential government businesses and services on Thursday and Friday, cut off the inter-island ferry link and asked private vehicles not to move.

Vaccination teams have been deployed to go 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.

The number of deaths from measles since mid-October reached 63 on Friday, including 55 children under four years old. Children are also the majority among the 4.357 cases of contamination identified. Twenty 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, which was 30% of the population before the start of the epidemic. It has risen to 55% with a vaccination campaign started 15 days ago with children.

The intensification and widening 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% and to reduce the epidemic, 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," he said.

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 the anti-vaccines jumped on the occasion. 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's devastating, it can condemn to death a child here where the vaccination rate is low and other health problems are added."

"We had children who died after they arrived at the hospital as a last resort, we found out that the anti-vaccine message was passed on to their families, who then kept these children at home," he said. Archipelago Minister of Communications, Afamasaga Rico Tupai.

"The anti-vaccines unfortunately slow us down," the minister told New Zealand television TVNZ.

And to launch: "Do not get in the way, do not contribute to the number of deaths", for the attention of anti-vaccine activists, including one of them, Edwin Tamasese, was arrested Thursday night . He had apostrophé the vaccination campaign on social networks: "enjoy your orgy of murder," he had written.

"We will advise the police to act when we have no choice," warned the Attorney General of the Lemalu archipelago Hermann Retzlaff in a statement.

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.

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