Welcome to the “MINISTRY OF HEALTH”

Vaccination is a simple, safe, and effective way of protecting people against harmful diseases before they come into contact with them.

Vaccination: Most vaccines are given by an injection, but some are given orally (by mouth) or sprayed into the nose. This process is called vaccination.

Immunization: This refers to the process of both getting the vaccine and then becoming immune to the disease vaccinated against.

It takes approximately two (2) weeks after being vaccinated to build immunity.

If you are exposed to the virus or bacteria before building immunity, that is before two (2) weeks have passed since being vaccinated, it is likely you will become ill. 

Our immune systems are designed to remember. Once exposed to one or more doses of a vaccine, we typically remain protected against a disease in some cases for years, decades or even a lifetime. This is what makes vaccines so effective. Rather than treating a disease after it occurs, vaccines prevent us in the first instance from getting sick.

Sometimes immunity decreases over a period of time and this is why booster doses/vaccinations are given according to a schedule.

This is why it is important for parents to follow Samoa’s Ministry of Health Children’s Immunization Schedule to ensure that your child/children get all required vaccinations to protect them from diseases, sickness and death.

All the ingredients of a vaccine play an important role in ensuring a vaccine is safe and effective.

Many of the ingredients used in vaccines occur naturally in the body, in the environment, and in the foods we eat.

Vaccine ingredients can look unfamiliar when they are listed on a label. However, all of the ingredients in vaccines – as well as the vaccines themselves - are thoroughly tested and monitored to ensure they are safe.

Some of the ingredients in vaccines include:

• The antigen. This is a killed/dead or weakened harmless form of a virus or bacteria, which trains our bodies to recognize and fight the disease if we encounter it in the future.
• This helps to boost our immune response. This means they help vaccines to work better.
• This helps to ensure the vaccine stays effective.

Vaccines teach your body to recognize germs such as viruses and bacteria, and how to fight it off.  

When you get a vaccine, your immune system responds by:

• Recognizing the invading germ, such as the virus or bacteria.
• Producing antibodies. Antibodies are proteins produced naturally by the immune system to fight disease.
• Remembering the disease and how to fight it. If you are then exposed to the germ in the future, your immune system can quickly destroy it before you become sick.

When a person gets vaccinated against a disease, their risk of infection is also reduced. This makes a vaccinated person less likely to transmit the virus or bacteria to others.

If you are not vaccinated, you are more likely to get the disease, pass it on to others, and you and others may become seriously ill or die.

When a majority of persons in a population develop immunity either through vaccination or previous infection it is called Herd or Population immunity.

This reduces the risk of infection to other persons, such as pregnant mothers and very young babies, who are not immune and have not been or cannot be vaccinated with certain vaccines.

Check out WHO’s Science in 5 Scries – Herd Immunity

https://www.who.int/emergencies/diseases/novel-coronavirus-2019/covid-19-vaccines/covid-19-vaccine-multimedia#

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tC47JjakPSA

There are many diseases that are preventable through vaccination (Vaccine preventable diseases).

Herd or Population immunity only works for vaccine-preventable diseases with an element of person-to-person spread. This is true for example, for measles, polio, yellow fever, rotavirus, pneumococcus etc.

Vaccination is a safe and effective way to prevent disease and save lives. Vaccination protects you and everyone around you.

https://www.facebook.com/shotatlifecampaign/videos/yesterday-the-who-and-unicef-warned-of-a-dangerous-decline-in-routine-vaccinatio/1715310265337944/?__so__=permalink&__rv__=related_videos

Safe and effective vaccines worldwide are currently available for 23 diseases. Many more are being developed or piloted for other diseases. Several vaccines have now been developed for COVID-19 and many more are being trialled or tested.

Some available vaccines

• Cholera
• Dengue
• Diphtheria
• Hepatitis
• Haemophilus influenzae type b (Hib)
• Human papillomavirus (HPV)
• Influenza
• Japanese encephalitis
• Malaria
• Measles
• Meningococcal meningitis
• Mumps
• Pertussis
• Pneumococcal disease
• Poliomyelitis
• Rabies
• Rotavirus
• Tetanus
• Tick-borne encephalitis
• Tuberculosis
• Typhoid
•  Varicella
• Yellow Fever