The potential global consequences of Florida's vaccination-exit

Around 200.000 people live on Samoa, an island slightly larger than Luxembourg. There, 83 of them, almost all newborns, died of measles in the winter of 2019 after the disease had almost completely disappeared for a long time. As a result, a national state of emergency was declared on 17 November, a curfew was imposed and all gatherings were banned. Improvised red flags made from T-shirts or cloths with the word "Help" were hung from windows around Christmas: they allowed rescue workers to see where they should take vaccine doses. In late December, a vaccination rate of 94 per cent was achieved, enough to contain the outbreak again. In total, over 5.700 cases of the disease, which can leave lifelong damage, have been recorded.

How could a disease for which there is a 97 per cent effective vaccine paralyse an entire nation and kill almost 100 children in just two months? A key moment: In July 2018, two newborns died due to a medical error because a muscle relaxant was mistakenly used in their vaccinations instead of water. This resulted in widespread vaccination scepticism among the population. As a result, many turned back to "classical" or esoteric remedies.

As a result, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. visited the country in June 2019 and met with the Prime Minister of Samoa to discuss vaccination. At the same time, he reportedly sponsored an anti-vaccination campaign on social media aimed at mothers in particular. In doing so, he further fuelled existing vaccination scepticism: While 90 per cent of newborns were still vaccinated in 2013, the figure fell to 74 per cent in 2017 – even before the medical accident – and further to between 31 and 34 per cent in 2018.

The outbreak was a consequence of the fact that the proportion of the population required for herd immunity was far below the required level, which resulted in the epidemic. Surrounding islands, which had a vaccination rate of 99 per cent, were completely spared. In December 2019, the Samoan parliament voted in favour of introducing compulsory vaccination, which has since prevented new outbreaks of the disease. At the same time, the world's population began to become aware of a "novel coronavirus"…