Pago Pago, AMERICAN SAMOA — Lt. Gov. Talauega Eleasalo Ale has revealed that there have been requests from people to enter the territory who are not fully vaccinated — claiming “medical or religious” exemptions from current COVID-19 emergency declaration restrictions.

Talauega, who is also the Governor’s Authorized Representation (GAR), made the public revelation during Monday’s virtual news conference, where the Health Department (DoH) announced a policy effective this week for travelers entering from Honolulu. 

FULL VACCINATION REQUIREMENT

Among the entry requirements into the territory, under the Governor’s COVID declaration, is that the traveler: “Must show proof of full vaccination if they are 5 years old or older.”

“Lately we’ve been receiving a lot of requests from people who want to enter American Samoa, unvaccinated and they want to claim medical or religious exemption,” Talauega said during the news conference.

He pointed out that the way the governor’s declaration is written out, is that “there’s only one form of exemption — and that is people who are ineligible because of age. So unless you are under 5-years old, everybody who enters American Samoa has to be vaccinated.”

And Talauega wants people to “understand that’s the decision that the governor and the task force have made because we value life... we don’t want [a traveler] to come to American Samoa and spread COVID to other people, who might then die.”

“I want to let everybody know, we understand the arguments that have been made for and against vaccination but these are the decisions that the governor has made because his primary responsibility is protecting the people of American Samoa,” he said.

Talauega’s revelation comes at a time when there has been chatter on social media platforms of possible travelers from the U.S to American Samoa who have questioned the full vaccination requirement and how to get an exemption.

Some social-chatterers — shared by others with Samoa News — even hinted at taking federal legal action on this requirement, but local residents who have joined the discussion point out that this fully vaccination requirement has been in place for a long time and has been publicly disclosed from the start of the resumption of flights between Honolulu and Pago Pago last year.

Samoa News further notes that American Samoa controls its own borders — immigration and customs, as there are some claiming federal control over entering into the territory.

In a Letter to the Editor (LTE) in today’s issue of Samoa News, written in Samoan, the author of the LTE describes his traumatic experience as he was trying to get to Samoa to visit his wife’s grave for Mother’s Day. Apparently, he was stopped at the local airport on his way to catching the plane to Samoa by local Immigration because "he needed a stamp from a doctor on his Covid Vaccination Card". 

He writes that he received all his vaccinations in the U.S. and that he had gone through Immigration on his return from the States, visited DoH and the Samoa Consulate office and had shown them his Covid Vaccination Card — and no one questioned the “doctor stamp” issue, until now.

He points out that this is the same Vaccination Card that allowed him to travel from the States to American Samoa, and was never questioned.

His message to ASG: Please work together — and save people from going through traumatic experiences he has. He was finally able to get on the flight to Samoa this week.

Read letter here.

HAL FLIGHTS

Also during the news conference, DoH clinical service acting director, Dr. Elizabeth Lauvao shared a new policy, effective May 12, for travelers arriving from Honolulu on Hawaiian Airlines flights.

Under the new protocol, all travelers will be tested upon arrival at Pago Pago International Airport and those with positive results will be transported for isolation for 10-days, with 5 days at a DoH supervised facility and the other 5 days in home isolation.

Those who test negative, will no longer require quarantine but will be instructed to go directly home, “for self monitoring” and daily check in for 5 days on ASG’s TalofaPass websystem.

Those who develop symptoms within the 5-days will need to inform DoH by calling 219 and coming in for testing at DoH clinics.

Dr. Lauvao also provided an update on the Hawaiian Airlines flight on Honolulu on May 5, saying that 180 travelers were on this flight and 179 of them tested negative upon arrival and went directly to home quarantine while one passenger who tested positive was placed in isolation.

The second test for the home-quarantined passengers was scheduled for yesterday, May 10 at the DoH Alternate Care Facility in Tafuna. Results were not immediately available at press time.