Pandemic-Linked Worldwide Declines in Childhood Vaccination Not Yet Recovered

FRIDAY, Nov. 1, 2024 (HealthDay News) -- Countries with COVID-19 pandemic-associated reductions in childhood immunization coverage have not yet recovered, according to research published in the Oct. 31 issue of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.

Camille E. Jones, Ph.D., from the CDC in Atlanta, and colleagues present trends in World Health Organization and UNICEF routine vaccination coverage estimates across 194 WHO member countries through 2023.

The researchers found that global coverage with the first and third doses of diphtheria-tetanus-pertussis-containing vaccine (DTPcv; 89 and 84 percent, respectively) and with the first dose of measles-containing vaccine (83 percent) stagnated during 2022 to 2023 and remained lower than levels seen before the pandemic. Approximately half of the world's 14.5 million children who did not receive the first DTPcv dose were in 31 WHO member countries with fragile, conflict-affected and vulnerable (FCV) settings. Countries' overall protection against vaccine-preventable diseases has been improved by introduction of new and underutilized vaccines such as a second measles-containing vaccine dose in the African region.

"The COVID-19 pandemic-associated disruptions in health systems augmented existing gaps and introduced new gaps in immunization coverage worldwide," the authors write. "Progress toward recovery has been uneven across countries, with low-income countries, the African region, and FCV settings having the most urgent need for action."

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