Samoan families have been asked to stay home and hang red flags outside their homes if they need vaccinations in a last-gasp effort to inoculate the country in the wake of a measles outbreak.

Samoan Prime Minister Tuilaepa Sailele Malielegaoi has effectively shut down the country for two days, ordering a “door-to-door mass vaccination campaign”.

All non-essential businesses and government services will close, and transport will be banned.

Public servants have been ordered to work alongside local and foreign health workers to provide vaccinations.