Hi everyone, Inge here, Coda’s Impact Editor. This week, I want us to dip our toes into the real-life implications of vaccine skepticism. With two friends who are anti-vax, and my son currently attending one of the notoriously vaccine-sceptic Waldorf schools, I’ve heard all the arguments before. On both sides, the discussion is tainted with strong emotions about the wellbeing of our children. 

As a parent, when your child is sick, it’s the worst feeling in the world: you feel helpless. As I write this, my son is lethargic on a couch with a nasty ear infection. But it’s just an ear infection, and I know it will pass. 

Parents in the small Pacific country of Samoa haven’t been that lucky. The island nation with a population of less than 200,000, has been struggling with a major measles outbreak for a few months now. The disease has so far infected around 4,500 people and killed 76, of which more than 60 were younger than four.

The outbreak has animated both sides of the vaccination argument. People from all over the world have been passionately arguing about the subject on the government’s official Facebook page.