Pago Pago, AMERICAN SAMOA — Task force chair, Lt Governor Talauega Ale at the regular meeting this week opened discussions on the proposed mass max stand down (or shutdown), after members of the private sector — led by the Chamber of Commerce expressed concerns regarding ongoing plans for the mass vaccination stand down and the potential impacts on the economy during the territory’s busiest time for commerce.

Reports from the Chamber and other private sector leaders following prior meetings with several members of the Fono included an analysis on potential economic impacts and recommendations for decision makers to consider. (See Samoa News reports on the Chamber’s analysis in earlier issues this week.)

Such options and recommendations for the mass vaccination efforts as suggested by businesswoman Olivia Reid include conducting mass vaccinations at the schools to be able to target a large portion of the unvaccinated.

In addition, a recommendation was made to break up the proposed schedule or consider weekends when families are likely to be at home as opposed to three consecutive weekdays during regular government and business hours.

Chamber President Kuaea wrote in a recent letter to the Lt. Gov. that if the government and schools are closed for three days, private employers will still be impacted due to inadequate child care options for their employees. 

VACCINES FOR CHILDREN

Dr Francine Amoa stated that the COVID-19 vaccine for children aged 5-11 year olds have been confined to the clinics to ensure that the limited and trained medical professionals are available on site to monitor any potential adverse reactions.

“The goal is to integrate the COVID vaccine into the ongoing vaccination operations and schedule. We’ve previously spent 7 consecutive weeks of Saturday vaccination schedules covering the eastern, western, and central areas of the island and were able to vaccinate only 900 individuals. There’s no guarantee that we are going to get 6,000,” Dr Amoa stated in response to the recommendation of a Saturday schedule. 

MANDATORY VACCINATIONS

Following comments from representatives of the Congresswoman’s Office and the Senate regarding residents that resist or refuse the vaccine, the Lieutenant Governor made it clear that the Governor does not intend to force vaccinations on residents:

 “It is not the Governor’s intention to force or punish anyone for refusing to take the vaccine. The idea behind the three day stand down is to provide every resident in the Territory the opportunity to get vaccinated,” Talauega said.

He pointed to the complexity of the work and issues that the Task Force must deal with and thanked the members for their valuable input especially those from the Fono, Congresswoman's Office, and the private sector. 

 “A decision will be made at some point considering all sides and viewpoints expressed today,” he said.

FIJI REPATRIATION FLIGHT

Plans for a repatriation flight to bring medical students, LBJ hospital employees and family members are nearly confirmed after having been complicated by the delta outbreak in the country and subsequent border restrictions. A charter flight is being scheduled for the month of December and will bring home returning residents and LBJ employees that will alleviate long standing healthcare workforce challenges.

VAX STATISTICS

Dr Aifili Tufa provided weekly updates from the Department of Health on vaccination rates for the Territory. A total of 68,081 doses of the vaccine have been administered. 33,090 total individuals are fully vaccinated. In terms of vaccination coverage rates for the entire population,

69.8% are with at least 1 dose

66.6% are fully vaccinated

21.6% no shots yet

8.6% ineligible (< 5years old)

The Department of Health continues to coordinate with the Department of Commerce for specific data and updates to the 2020 Census Count which impacts the accuracy of Territorial vaccination data.

Lt Gov Talauega requested that the Task Force’s medical representatives and community consider options to reduce the quarantine time given the latest data of the past year and test result trends of incoming travelers throughout the year from COVID affected areas.

Proposals to reduce quarantine time from the standard 10 days of post-travel quarantine to 7 days have been brought to the table for further discussion and final recommendations from the medical community to be implemented as soon as yesterdy’s  (Nov. 18) flight.

Read separate story on return flight delay, elsewhere in this issue.