Prime Minister Fiame Naomi Mata'afa has criticised Robert F Kennedy's views on anti-vaccination and expressed her disagreement with his stance. 

In an interview with an overseas-based media, Fiame refuted claims that vaccinations caused the deaths of two babies in 2018, citing a history of high vaccination rates and the safety of vaccinated children. 

Kennedy is President Trump's pick to lead the top US health agency, however, he was responsible for spreading misinformation related to the 2019 measles outbreak that claimed 83 lives mostly infants.

"If he is the messenger for anti-vaxxers, as a leader, I do not agree with him. The facts remain that the two babies who died [in 2018] were through human error of the nurses. All the different actors, especially anti-vax people, got on board and suggested that the vaccination was the cause, which is complete rubbish," Fiame told overseas media. 

Fiame believes that the 2019 measles outbreak was caused by a drop in vaccination rates that stemmed from a medical vaccination error in 2018. The previous Government also contributed to the problem.

"We have a track record before that of high rates of vaccination for our children, and they were safe. The facts speak for themselves. It was unvaccinated children who died," she added.

In October 2019, the vaccination rates dropped to 31 per cent compared to the previous four years which was 84 per cent according to the World Health Organisation data. Parents refused to vaccinate their children after that 2018 medical error which claimed two lives. This was due to nurses incorrectly administering vaccines mixed with an expired muscle relaxant.

A Samoan community health worker, Luana Tui who was on duty during the measles outbreak also supported Fiame's statement saying that Kennedy's visit did not help them as they were already dealing with misinformation and hesitancy from the two deaths.

As a result, when measles entered Samoa in late 2019, the low immunity levels allowed the disease to spread rapidly, leading to at least 83 deaths and over 5,700 cases, mostly among babies and young children.