Child vaccination rates drop sharply during Covid-19 pandemic

About 67 million children worldwide, including nearly 250,000 children in Vietnam, are not fully vaccinated; and vaccination coverage decreased in 112 countries in the 3 years 2019 - 2021.

Around the world, unvaccinated children come from poor, remote communities, and some are affected by conflict. New data compiled for a report by the International Center for Health Equity shows that among the poorest households, one in five children are unvaccinated, while among the wealthiest, the rate is one in 20.

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According to UNICEF in Vietnam, when the pandemic broke out, childhood immunization activities were disrupted in most countries, including Vietnam, in particular due to increased demands on health systems, diversion of routine immunization resources to Covid-19 vaccination campaigns, shortages of health workers and home isolation measures. Another reason was delays in vaccine procurement. UNICEF expressed concern about the potential for outbreaks of vaccine-preventable diseases, especially measles. Children born just before or during the pandemic are now reaching the age when they would normally have been vaccinated. Vaccination beliefs change over time; several factors may increase vaccine hesitancy, including increased exposure to misinformation.

UNICEF said that Vietnam's experience in successfully implementing the largest mass vaccination campaign against the Covid-19 epidemic has created a good foundation for Vietnam to quickly resolve the slow vaccine supply situation and quickly provide additional vaccinations to unvaccinated children.

Routine vaccination and strong health systems are the best ways to prevent future pandemics and unnecessary deaths.

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