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A nurse leaves a measles isolation ward at Tupua Tamasese Meaole Hospital. A security guard is stationed out the front with a desk with hand cleaning supplies.
As of December 16th 2019, there have been 5,200 confirmed cases of measles and 73 deaths in Samoa - out of a population of just over 200,000 people. A measles outbreak beginning in October has impacted the small island nation, which before the outbreak had a vaccination rate of only between 28-40% according to the United Nations Children's Fund (Unicef). Responding to the outbreak, the Samoan government has issued a state of emergency and enacted a mobile vaccination program which has now reportedly vaccinated over 90% of the population.
Tupua Tamasese Meaole Hospital, Apia, Samoa. 10th December 2019. Matthew Abbott for The New York Times.