Market Desk (Health): World’s Children 2023 report, UNICEF says that vaccination coverage levels decreased within 112 countries during the pandemic and it is the largest sustained backslide in childhood immunization in 30 years. According to the agency, a rise in misleading information on vaccines is one of the factors at play.
UNICEF’s ED Catherine Russell said that while at the height of the pandemic, scientists rapidly developed life-saving vaccines, despite this historic achievement, fear and disinformation about all types of vaccines circulated as widely as the virus itself.
UNICEF says the pandemic interrupted childhood vaccination almost everywhere due to stretched systems and stay-at-home measures.
Overall vaccine acceptance is still high. In that survey, 80% of respondents consider important for children. Confidence varies from country to country. For example, countries like India, China and Mexico did not show a lack of confidence. However, vaccination coverage has dropped by 44% in countries such as Papua New Guinea, South Korea and by more than a third in Ghana, Senegal etc.
UNICEF is calling on governments to give more serious consideration to immunization programs and increase funding. The organization has called for special measures, especially for those who have been deprived during the pandemic.
By Lisanur Rasul
