Childhood immunization coverage, which has fallen due to COVID-19, has improved but is still below pre-pandemic levels, new data show

CNN
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millions of children around the world missed routine childhood immunizations The number of people infected with diseases such as measles, diphtheria and tetanus fell during the COVID-19 pandemic, but new data suggests that decline may be reversing.

Globally, 4 million more children received routine childhood immunization than last year. Estimate The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and the World Health Organization (WHO) made the announcement on Monday.

Dr Efrem Lemango, UNICEF’s Deputy Director for Immunization, said: “This year we are seeing an increase in coverage, in contrast to the past two years when coverage continued to decline in some countries.”

The number of children who did not receive all routine immunizations fell from 18.1 million in 2021 to 14.3 million last year. However, 12.9 million children did not receive full vaccinations in 2019, so the numbers have not returned to or fallen below those seen before the pandemic.

Similarly, data show that the number of children who missed at least one dose of routine immunization fell from 24.4 million in 2021 to 20.5 million last year. However, this is still more than the 18.4 million children who did not receive at least one vaccination in 2019.

“Behind the positive trends lies a serious caveat,” UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell said in a news release on Monday.

“Unless more countries close the gap in routine immunization coverage, children around the world will continue to be at risk of contracting and dying from diseases we can prevent, like measles. Viruses know no borders,” she says. “There is an urgent need to step up efforts to restore and further improve immunization services to pre-pandemic levels while bringing back the children who were not vaccinated.”

‘Serious and enduring inequalities’

UNICEF and WHO scientists analyzed trends and data on routine vaccination against 13 reported diseases from 183 countries.

Of the 73 countries that reported significant declines in childhood immunization coverage during the COVID-19 pandemic, 15 have returned to pre-pandemic vaccination levels and 24 are still recovering, with slightly less than half A small number of 34 countries remain stagnant or continue to vaccinate. Data show a decrease.

UNICEF and WHO researchers measure a “significant reduction” as a decline in vaccination coverage of more than 5 percent each year. Before the pandemic, small fluctuations in vaccination coverage were not considered uncommon.

WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said in a news release: “These data are encouraging and call out to those who have worked so hard to restore life-saving immunization services after two years of high immunization coverage. It is a tribute to the “But global and regional averages do not tell the whole story, masking deep and enduring inequalities. When countries and regions fall behind, children pay the price. Become.”

During the COVID-19 pandemic, “the moment we warned that immunization coverage continued to decline, many countries began to take action, including stepping up immunization activities,” Lemango said. “This is a promising sign of recovery and countries doing well need to continue to do well.”

Improvements in childhood immunization appear to be concentrated in a few countries. South Asia, which had reported increases in vaccination coverage even before the pandemic, is one of the regions that has seen a faster and stronger recovery. Of the more than 4 million children who were assisted last year, Remango said, 3.8 million across eight countries – India, Indonesia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Brazil, Mexico, Pakistan and Tanzania – accounted for 3.8 million.

“Despite these positive signs, immunization coverage remains stagnant in low-income countries and regions like the African region,” warned Lemango.

“High-income countries have been able to withstand the impact of the pandemic, so they have maintained higher insurance coverage. has also achieved a promising recovery this year,” Lemango said. “Therefore, it is the low-income countries that are most affected not only by immunization but also by other health service issues. They continue to fall behind and need coordinated support.”

catching up with children

New data show not only regional differences in the recovery of childhood immunizations, but also differences based on which vaccines are being administered.

“For measles, the other vaccine we use to measure whether uptake is improving, the recovery is not as good as the first DTP vaccine,” Remango said.

The percentage of children who completed the first dose of measles vaccine was 83% last year and 81% in 2021, well below the 86% achieved in 2019.

However, for the diphtheria, tetanus and pertussis vaccine (DTP), the percentage of children who completed the first dose was 86% in 2021 and 90% in 2019, compared to 89% in 2022. became.

And new data show that HPV vaccination coverage has surpassed pre-pandemic levels for the first time. In HPV vaccination efforts, primary vaccination coverage increased from 21% in 2022 to 16% in 2021 and 19% in 2019. However, coverage remains well below the target of 90% for 15-year-old girls. , health officials have set this as a milestone to end cervical cancer by 2030.

Earlier this year, several organizations, including WHO, UNICEF, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, and Gavi of the Vaccine Alliance, launched a global campaign called The Vaccine Alliance. big catch upis calling on governments around the world to ensure that children who were not vaccinated during the pandemic are vaccinated.

“We need countries to find ways to protect their own citizens,” Seth Barkley, CEO of the vaccine alliance Gavi, said in a news release. “Otherwise, we risk creating a dual trajectory, with larger, lower-middle-income countries outperforming the rest.”