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The Covid-19 pandemic has disrupted routine childhood immunization programs around the world

ILLUSTRATION. Officers wearing complete personal protective equipment (PPE) inject vaccines to children participating in the immunization program at the Ngagel Rejo Health Center, Tuesday (30/6/2020).

Source: Reuters | Editor: Prihastomo Wahyu Widodo

KONTAN.CO.ID – GENEVA. The Covid-19 pandemic is starting to have a real impact on children around the world. Nearly 23 million children have been forced to skip routine immunizations due to all the restrictions caused by Covid-19.

The World Health Organization (WHO) on Thursday (15/7) reported that 22.7 million children did not get mandatory vaccinations, which could trigger outbreaks of measles, polio, and other preventable diseases.

The WHO said the number was the highest in more than a decade. The number could increase this year if the pandemic cannot be controlled.

Also Read: WHO: Delta variant could become the dominant variant in the next few months

Reported from Reuters, India and Nigeria are the countries that accounted for the number of children who were not vaccinated against diphtheria, tetanus and pertussis (DTP) in 2020.

In African and Asian countries, measles is also one of the most contagious diseases and can be fatal for children under the age of five. It is also feared that polio outbreaks that can paralyze children for life are also feared to spread.

The WHO report even mentions that large and severe measles outbreaks have emerged in a number of regions such as Afghanistan, Mali, Somalia and Yemen.

About 22.3 million children missed the first dose of measles vaccine last year, the majority of all children who missed routine vaccines.

Also Read: WHO prohibits rich countries from buying booster vaccines, here’s why




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