Bisola David
The United Nations Children’s Fund has revealed that between 2019 and 2021, COVID-19 caused over 67 million children to miss routine immunization worldwide.
This statement was made by the organization in its “State of the World’s Children 2023” report.
According to the report, there were 18 million zero-dose children worldwide between 2019 and 2021, an increase of more than a third.
Additionally, it stated that there had been a significant rise in the 25 million (up from 6 million) under-vaccinated children.
It went on to say that “this retreat reflected some pandemic-specific issues, particularly the impact of lockdowns and service disruption.”
The agency cited problems that contributed to the decline, such as pressures on health professionals and systems that are already overburdened, particularly overworked women health workers as well as confusing communication with parents.
A World Health Organisation study conducted at the end of 2021 revealed that routine vaccination regimens were being delayed by the need to respond to the epidemic in over half of the 72 countries surveyed.
As an illustration, it stated that 57% of campaigns in 57 countries had to be stopped in May 2020, resulting in the loss of 796 million doses of vaccine.
Despite the fact that things started to get better in the middle of 2020, disruptions persisted and at the end of 2021, campaigns in African nations stagnated, costing 382 million doses.
According to the research, the pandemic exacerbated the issue and increased the difficulties faced by health professionals, particularly women working in the field.
Even in areas with operating medical facilities, families may have delayed immunizations due to travel restrictions or limited financial resources.
Significantly, parents may have avoided clinic visits out of concern for contracting COVID-19.
According to UNICEF, following up with the children who were either completely or partially immunized during the pandemic will be a significant challenge and will require significant funding to develop and implement effective catch-up initiatives.
In order to stop further regressing in the face of challenging economic headwinds, the agency stated it is also necessary to support health and immunization programs.
Also, to guarantee that catch-up activities reach the communities and children who need them the most, it was stated that these initiatives would need to identify and locate zero-dose and under-vaccinated kids as well as missed communities.
However, it cautioned that catching up alone would not be sufficient and advised countries whose immunization programs are recovering slowly to achieve full restoration to at least pre-pandemic levels as soon as possible.
