In 2021, the vaccination rate among children will fall for the second year in a row, warn the World Health Organization and UNICEF. Worldwide, 25 million infants missed out on life-saving vaccines.
The pandemic and its consequences have thus led to the largest drop in vaccination rates in the past 30 years, show figures from the WHO. For the diphtheria, tetanus and pertussis (DTP3) vaccine – a good indicator of vaccination coverage – coverage fell by 5 percentage points between 2019 and 2021.
Millions of children
Last year alone, 25 million children missed one or more vaccines – 2 million more than the year before. The children are thus at risk of devastating but preventable diseases.
Last year alone, 25 million children missed one or more vaccines.
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-The decline is due to several factors, including an increased number of children living in conflict situations. But the pandemic played an important role, through disruptions in health care, but also through the proliferation of vaccine misinformation.
“This is a red alert for children’s health,” said Catherine Russell, UNICEF executive director. “We are witnessing the largest sustained decline in childhood immunization in a generation. The consequences will be measured in lifetimes.’
Outbreaks
The decrease is mainly attributable to those living in low- and middle-income countries. The largest decline was recorded in countries such as India, Nigeria, Indonesia, Ethiopia and the Philippines. Myanmar and Mozambique show the strongest decline in 2019 and 2021 combined. But there are also countries that have held up well, such as Uganda and Pakistan.
According to the WHO, “monumental efforts” will be needed to regain universal coverage and prevent outbreaks. The organization points out that in recent months there have been outbreaks of measles and polio.
