67 million children missed routine vaccines globally due to Covid-19: UNICEF
HY News
22 April, 2023 01:29 pm IST
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Some 67 million children partially or fully missed routine vaccines globally between 2019 and 2021 because of lockdowns and healthcare disruptions caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, the United Nations said on Friday.
In 52 of the 55 countries surveyed, the public perception of vaccines for children declined between 2019 and 2021, the UN agency said. More than a decade of hard-earned gains in routine childhood immunization have been eroded, read a new report from the UN's children's agency, UNICEF, adding that getting back on track will be challenging.
The data was a "worrying warning signal" of rising vaccine hesitancy amid misinformation, dwindling trust in governments and political polarisation, UNICEF, the United Nations Children's Fund, said.
"We cannot allow confidence in routine immunizations to become another victim of the pandemic," Catherine Russell, UNICEF executive director, said in a statement. "Otherwise, the next wave of deaths could be of more children with measles, diphtheria or other preventable diseases."
Of the 67 million children whose vaccinations were severely disrupted, 48 million missed out on routine vaccines entirely, UNICEF said, flagging concerns about potential polio and measles outbreaks.
Vaccine coverage among children declined in 112 countries and the percentage of children vaccinated worldwide slipped 5 points to 81 percent, a low not seen since 2008. Africa and South Asia were particularly hard hit.
Vaccines save 4.4 million lives each year, a number the United Nations figures could jump to 5.8 million by 2030 if its ambitious targets to leave "no one behind" are met.
Before the introduction of a vaccine in 1963, measles killed approximately 2.6 million people each year, mostly children. By 2021, that number had fallen to 128,000.
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