Ka‘ū News Briefs, Saturday, December 7, 2019

AMERICAN SAMOA ANNOUNCED NINE MEASLES CASES ON FRIDAY and will shut down all schools and public gathering in parks, starting this Monday, announced the U.S. territorial government. Health Department Epidemiologist Dr. Aifili John Tufa made the announcement on American Samoan television saying that samples from infected American Samoans were tested in Hawaiʻi, leading to confirmation that "We are currently in the state of emergency" and "measles outbreak." The spread of the virus comes during an epidemic in the nearby Independent State of Samoa that has killed nearly 70, most of them children, four and under. Neighboring Pacific Island countries Tonga and Fiji are under a state of emergency.
     Seventy Hawaiʻi health workers began returning from the Apia, the capital of Independent State of Samoa, on Friday after helping to inoculate more than 40,000. Lt. Gov. Josh Green, who began his Hawaiʻi medical career in Kaʻū, joined the mission to administer the vaccine to as many people as possible in 48 hours. Aid from all over the world has flooded into Samoa, including from organizations such as the World Health Organization and UNICEF.

Lt. Gov. Josh Green, left, with Samoa PM Tuilaepa Sailele Malielegaoi. Photo from the Samoa Government

     Green applauded Samoan officials for the immunization campaign, "the bold action you've taken. But there is going to continue, I would presume, to be some fatalities, less and less I would expect, because you have done such a good job of getting people immunized so quickly."
     About 89 percent of Samoa's population of 201,300 is now inoculated and health officials say they are hoping that the epidemic will be over soon. Measles has infected about 4,460 Samoans since October when the virus began to spread quickly.
     In late October, the Samoan government based in Apia declared a state of emergency and made vaccinations compulsory. All Samoan schools were closed and children banned from public gatherings. On Dec. 2, the government implemented a curfew and cancelled all public gatherings. Last Thursday and Friday, Samoan officials told the entire population, except essential public utilities workers, to stay home. Roads closed to nonessential vehicles. Teams traveled door-to-door to administer vaccines to those who hung red flags from their houses – indicating that un-immunized people lived there.

     Samoa's Prime Minister, Tuilaepa Sailele Malielegaoi, said the death toll could be attributed to lack of immunization and seeking medical assistance too late. The immunization level was about 30 percent last year, according to the World Health Organization and UNICEF.

The country of Samoa's website, health.gov.ws, overflows  with advice on measles, vaccinations, and more,  in both Samoan and English.

     A sharp drop in measles vaccination followed "an incident in 2018 when two infants died shortly after receiving measles vaccinations, which led the country to suspend its measles vaccination program. The reason for the two infants' deaths was incorrect preparation of the vaccine by two nurses who mixed vaccine powder with expired anesthetic," according to a post on Wikipedia.

     Tuilaepa said he wants bring Samoato 90 percent vaccination coverage, and will implement penalties for parents who don't vaccinate their children.

     Green said, "Your government is doing a very smart thing to immunize people aggressively." He said that global support for Samoa shows care for the Samoan people. Donations funded almost all of the $2 million expended by the team from Hawaiʻi for the rapid immunization project.

     This week, WHO announced that measles infected nearly ten million people worldwide in 2018. Most of the 140,000 who died were children. WHO said provisional data for 2019 up to November shows there are three times as many cases this year than in 2018. Kate O'Brien, WHO's top executive on immunization, stated, "The reason we're having increases in cases and deaths of measles has to do fundamentally with people not getting vaccinated."

Vincent Kapoi. Photo from his family

THE NAMES OF TWO CIVILIAN PEARL HARBOR SHIPYARD WORKERS, FATALLY SHOT on Wednesday, have been released. Roldan A. Agustin, 49, and Vincent J. Kapoi, 30, were both from Hawaiʻi. They worked for the International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers. The worker who survived is in stable condition but has not been identified to the public.

     According to a statement from his family, Kapoi was a husband, son, brother, and uncle, and was of Native Hawaiian and Filipino heritage. Kapoi was a metals inspector apprentice through the shipyard's Intermediate Maintenance Facility Apprentice Program. Agustin was a shop planner.

     On Wednesday, around 2:30 p.m., while guarding the USS Columbia, 22-year old Navy submariner Gabriel Romero, of Texas, fatally shot Kapoi and Roldan, and injured the third man, using an M4 service rifle. Romero used his M9 service pistol to kill himself.
     According to numerous reports, the shooter faced disciplinary issues, involving several review board appearances, regarding neglecting his duties and punching equipment such as lockers. He was under review for a Captain's Mast, a disciplinary action one step lower than a court marshal, meant for minor criminal offenses.

     Hawaiʻi has the lowest gun death rate in the U.S., with 2.4 deaths per 100,000 residents, according to the Giffords Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence. The state's strict firearms laws are rated seventh in the nation, and include bans on assault weapons and large-capacity ammunition magazines.

     In a second shooting incident at a U.S. Navy base this week, a Saudi national, in aviation training for two years in Pensacola, FL, opened fire in a classroom building, leaving three victims dead and eight wounded. The shooter killed himself. The New York Times reported the shooter showed films of mass shootings at a dinner party the night before he killed his victims.