The World Health Organisation and the UN Children’s Fund UNICEF, have warned of alarming decline in the number of children receiving life-saving vaccines around the world because of COVID-19 pandemic.
WHO, in a statement posted on its website, stated that the decline was due to disruptions in the delivery and uptake of immunisation services caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
According to new data by WHO and UNICEF, these disruptions threaten to reverse hard-won progress to reach more children and adolescents with a wider range of vaccines, which has already been hampered by a decade of stalling coverage.
The latest data on vaccine coverage estimates from WHO and UNICEF for 2019 shows that improvements such as the expansion of the HPV vaccine to 106 countries and greater protection for children against more diseases are in danger of lapsing.
