The Covid-19 Task Force has announced that travelers wishing to enter or leave American Samoa will now be required to provide proof that they have been vaccinated for COVID-19.
This will not apply to travelers that are too young to be vaccinated or those who are not medically qualified to be vaccinated. Those who cannot be vaccinated will need to be quarantined for a longer time. Children who are quarantined will need a parent or guardian to accompany them.
The new requirement was announced during the latest meeting of the Task Force held yesterday, and will be incorporated into the new emergency declaration due to be released later this week.
KHJ News points out that the requirement for children to be immunized against childhood diseases as a condition of enrolling in school was approved by legislation.
Whether the Covid-19 vaccination policy will also be set by law remains to be seen.
A release from the Task Force says the move is aimed at increasing the vaccination rate for American Samoa which would boost protection of residents from the virus should it reach our shores.
“Vaccination of our eligible population is the best way to protect our people. It would be dangerous to open our borders without having enough of our residents vaccinated to move closer to herd immunity,” said the release.
“The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on Monday expanded the emergency use authorization (EUA) for the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine to cover those ages 12 through 15.”
The population of American Samoa that’s eligible for Covid vaccination now totals 36,917.
The latest data from the Department of Health shows that 59% of those eligible to get the vaccine have received at least one shot. Of that, 51% are fully vaccinated.
The majority of the unvaccinated population are those 30 years and younger.
The Task Force is continuing to push for more people to get their Covid shots.
DOH who is leading the vaccination efforts has met with village mayors and traditional leaders from the Office of Samoan Affairs.
There are also efforts to include clergy in the vaccination plans to promote innovative incentives.
“Increasing the vaccination rate is the only way we can safely open the borders to other places in the United States that have COVID-19,” said the Task Force.
