Members of the Jehovah’s Witnesses support the Government’s mass vaccination campaign and members are encouraged to get inoculated if they choose to do so, says spokesperson Sio Taua.

In an interview with the Samoa Observer, following reports of a group of their church members refusing to be vaccinated, Mr Taua said receiving vaccination is a health decision and a personal matter for each member of their church.

To prove his point, he emphasised that he has already been fully vaccinated, having received both doses of the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine.

The office of the church has been closed since the outbreak of the pandemic in early 2020 and each staff member has been fully vaccinated, according to Mr. Taua.

“At this moment our office is on lockdown because of the pandemic but I am working along with our public information desk in Australia,” he told this newspaper.

“We were among the first [in the country] to be fully vaccinated. We are all fully vaccinated and our offices have been locked down since April last year until now. 

"Every person on our staff, who works in our office, has been fully vaccinated.”

Mr. Taua said more than 90 per cent of Jehovah’s Witnesses at all branches around the world have been fully vaccinated.

“It’s a health decision – just like visiting your doctor for treatment. It’s a personal matter,” he said again.

“But as for us we, support what the Government is doing [in terms of vaccinations]. But also if there is someone who does not want to receive the vaccination – that is their personal choice.”

At a press conference held immediately after the Government’s two day mass vaccination campaign last month, the Minister of Health, Valasi Tafito Selesele told reporters that members of a church turned down the vaccines.

Valasi said the people who declined the vaccines were members of the Jehovah’s Witnesses church.

A Government official said it was Jehovah’s Witnesses in Mulifanua who declined to be vaccinated, claiming that the vaccinations are associated with the “mark of the beast 666”.

But Mr. Taua, the official spokesperson for the Jehovah’s Witnesses in Samoa, said that is not true.

“It’s very offensive. It is not true and it is not part of what is taught by the Jehovah’s Witnesses,” he said. “That is totally wrong – we do not believe such a thing,” 

Mr. Taua further disputed the claims made at the Government press conference, noting there are only two Jehovah’s Witnesses in Mulifanua and both have been fully vaccinated.

“In Mulifanua we have only have two Jehovah’s Witnesses there and they are both fully vaccinated,” he said and warned the public about the spread of misinformation surrounding the vaccines.

“We know the vaccines are useful to protect against the virus,” Mr. Taua said and referred those requiring more information on the religious organisation to view their website www.jw.org