According to a report by the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF), the COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in approximately 67 million children globally missing out entirely or partially on routine immunization between 2019 and 2021.
UNICEF’s “State of the World’s Children 2023” report highlights a significant drop in vaccination coverage during the pandemic, leaving millions of children vulnerable to serious childhood diseases. The setback caused childhood immunization efforts to regress to levels last observed in 2008, erasing more than a decade of progress in ensuring every child receives adequate immunization.
Between 2019 and 2021, the number of children without any doses of vaccines rose from 13 million to 18 million globally, marking an increase of over a third. The report also reveals a sharp rise in the number of under-vaccinated children, reaching 25 million—a six million increase.
The pandemic’s impact on primary healthcare and health systems emerged as a crucial factor contributing to this decline. The report emphasizes that while the pandemic-specific issues, such as lockdowns and service disruption, played a significant role, they also brought attention to long-standing challenges, including the weaknesses in primary healthcare systems that have hindered comprehensive vaccination efforts.
UNICEF identified various issues responsible for the decline, including strain on overburdened health systems and healthcare workers, particularly women, who often faced excessive workloads. Confusing communication to parents also contributed to the problem.
The pandemic forced many health systems to divert limited resources away from routine care, including immunization, further exacerbating the situation. A survey conducted by the World Health Organization (WHO) revealed that by the end of 2021, nearly half of the 72 countries surveyed reported disruptions to routine vaccination programs due to the pandemic.
Vaccination campaigns, unlike routine immunization, which target large-scale vaccination efforts within a relatively short period, experienced significant interruptions.
The UNICEF report underscores the urgent need for intensified catch-up initiatives to reach children who missed out on vaccination due to the pandemic and other factors like conflict. These initiatives should identify and locate zero-dose and under-vaccinated children and affected communities, allowing for the development of specific plans and strategies to address their needs.
However, catch-up efforts alone are insufficient. The report recommends countries with slow recovery in immunization services to promptly restore them to at least pre-pandemic levels.
Despite the calamitous impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, it also brought changes to the vaccine landscape that the global community should capitalize on to boost childhood immunization. The experience of the pandemic highlighted that, with political will, leadership, and mobilization of vast resources, new vaccines can be rapidly developed and introduced worldwide.