Quick Hits: Samoan Measles Crisis Improves

Samoa announced last Saturday that schools would reopen and they would end restrictions on public gatherings. In 2013, 90% of Samoan infants received the measles-mumps-rubella vaccine by their first birthday, but five years later, that number had dropped to just 30% as the government grew complacent in routine immunizations. Earlier in December, the government shut down to focus on a nationwide vaccination campaign. Several countries and international organizations sent aid helping Samoa reach a 95% immunization rate, the threshold for “herd immunity,” which is required to stop the spread of measles.