Immunization services are slowly recovering from COVID-19, although millions of children are still at risk of deadly diseases – WHO, UNICEF, Gavi

Although immunization services have begun to recover from COVID-19-related disorders, millions of children remain vulnerable to deadly diseases, the World Health Organization (WHO), UNICEF and Gavi warned today. World Immunization Week, highlighting the urgent need for a renewed global commitment to improving access to and acceptance of vaccination.

“Vaccines will help us stop the COVID-19 pandemic, but only if we ensure fair access to all countries and build strong systems to deliver them,” he said. Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO Director-General. “And if we want to avoid multiple epidemics of life-threatening diseases like measles, yellow fever and diphtheria, we need to ensure that routine vaccination services are protected in all countries of the world.”

AND WHO survey found that, despite progress compared to the 2020 situation, more than one-third of the countries surveyed (37%) still report a disruption in their routine immunization services.

Mass immunization campaigns have also been disrupted. According to new data, 60 of these rescue campaigns are currently being delayed in 50 countries, putting about 228 million people – mostly children – at risk for diseases such as measles, yellow fever and polio. More than half of the 50 affected countries are in Africa, highlighting long-standing inequalities in people’s access to critical immunization services.

Measles immunization campaigns, which are one of the most contagious diseases and can result in major attacks wherever people are unvaccinated, are most affected. Anti-measles campaigns make up 23 of the delayed campaigns, affecting about 140 million people. Many have now been delayed for more than a year.

“Even before the pandemic, there were worrying signs that we were starting to lose ground in the fight against preventable childhood disease, with 20 million children already missing critical vaccinations,” she said. Henrietta Fore, Executive Director of UNICEF. “The pandemic has exacerbated the bad situation, causing millions more children to remain unimmunized. Now that vaccines are at the forefront of all minds, we need to support that energy to help every child make up for their vaccines against measles, polio, and others. We have no time to lose. Lost soil means lost life. “

As a result of vaccination coverage gaps, serious measles epidemics have recently been reported in countries, including the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Pakistan and Yemen, although it is likely to happen elsewhere as an increasing number of children miss rescue vaccines, agencies warn. These attacks occur in places already facing conflict situations, as well as service disruptions due to ongoing responses to COVID-19.

The supply of vaccines and other equipment is also essential for the vaccination of children. Due to the disturbance at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, UNICEF delivered 2.01 billion doses of vaccine in 2020, compared to 2.29 billion in 2019.

“Millions of children around the world are likely to miss basic vaccines because the current pandemic threatens to expose two decades of progress in routine immunization,” he said. Dr. Berkley, CEO of Gavi, Vaccine Association. “To support the recovery from COVID-19 and fight future pandemics, we will need to ensure that routine immunization is given priority because we also focus on reaching children who do not receive any routine vaccines or children with zero doses. To do that, we need to work together – through development agencies, governments and civil society – to ensure that no child is left behind. ”

The goal of the new global immunization strategy is to save over 50 million lives

To help meet these challenges and support recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic, the WHO UNICEF, Gavi and other partners launched today Immunization Agenda 2030 (IA2030), an ambitious new global strategy to maximize the life-saving impact of vaccines through stronger immunization systems.

The agenda focuses on lifelong vaccination, from infancy to adolescence and old age. If fully implemented, it will prevent approximately 50 million deaths, according to the WHO – 75% of them in low- and lower-middle-income countries.

The goals to be achieved by 2030 include:

• Achieve 90% coverage of basic vaccines given in childhood and adolescence
• Halve the number of children who completely miss vaccines
• Complete 500 national or sub-national introductions of new or underused vaccines – such as those against COVID-19, rotavirus or human papilloma virus (HPV)

Urgent action is needed by all immunization stakeholders

To achieve the ambitious goals of IA2030, WHO, UNICEF, Gavi and partners call for bold action:

• World leaders and the global health and development community should make an explicit commitment to IA2030 and invest in stronger immunization systems, with tailored approaches for fragile and conflict-affected countries. Immunization is a vital element of an effective health system, crucial to pandemic preparedness and response and crucial to preventing the burden of multiple epidemics as societies reopen

• All countries should develop and implement ambitious national immunization plans in line with IA2030, and increase investment to make vaccination services accessible to all.

• Donors and governments should increase investment in vaccine research and innovation, development and delivery, focusing on the needs of a population that does not have enough services

• The pharmaceutical industry and scientists, working with governments and donors, should continue to accelerate vaccine research and development, ensure a continuous supply of affordable vaccines to meet global needs, and apply lessons from COVID-19 to other diseases.

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  Notes to editors

  Photos and b-roll are available for download here.

  World Immunization Week 2021 is held in the last week of April (April 24-30) on the occasion of the saving benefits of the vaccine. This year’s theme, “Vaccines bring us closer,” seeks to show how vaccination connects us to the people, goals, and moments that matter, helping to improve the health of everyone, everywhere throughout life.

  World Health Organization provides global leadership in public health within the United Nations system. Founded in 1948, the WHO works with 194 member states, in six regions and from more than 150 offices, to promote health, keep the world safe and serve the vulnerable. Our goal for the period 2019-2023 is to ensure that one billion more people have universal health insurance, to protect one billion more people from emergencies and to provide further billions of people with better health and well-being.

  UNICEF works in some of the world’s most difficult places, to reach children in the most favorable position in the world. In 190 countries and territories, we work for every child, everywhere, to build a better world for all. For more information on UNICEF and its work for children, visit www.unicef.org. For more information on COVID-19 visit www.unicef.org/coronavirus. Follow UNICEF further Twitter and Facebook. More information on UNICEF’s immunization program is available here. To visit Vaccines for everyone a landing page that brings together the latest reliable information on COVID-19 vaccines and routine immunization.

  Gavi, Vaccine Alliance is a public-private partnership that helps vaccinate half of the world’s children against some of the world’s deadliest diseases. Since its inception in 2000, Gavi has helped immunize an entire generation – over 822 million children – and prevented more than 14 million deaths, helping to halve child mortality in 73 lower-income countries. Gavi also plays a key role in improving global health security by supporting health systems as well as funding global stockpiles of vaccines against Ebola, cholera, meningitis and yellow fever. Gavi is a co-organizer of COVAX, a pillar of the Access to COVID-19 Tools (ACT) accelerator vaccine, along with the Coalition for Innovation in Epidemic Preparedness (CEPI) and the World Health Organization (WHO). Learn more at www.gavi.org and connect with us on Facebook and Twitter.