According to the Fund, vaccination coverage dropped sharply during the COVID-19 pandemic, leaving millions more children unprotected against some of childhood’s most serious diseases.
It added that “this backsliding reflected some issues specific to the pandemic, particularly the impact of lockdowns and service disruption. “As previous crises have shown, countries with already weak health systems are especially vulnerable to the impacts of conflict, major disease outbreaks and natural disasters.
Citing an example, it said that in May 2020, 57 per cent of campaigns in 57 countries had to be cancelled or postponed, representing the loss of 796 million vaccine doses. The report stated that “a final factor is the impact the pandemic had on families’ abilities and willingness to get their children vaccinated.
In the face of difficult economic headwinds, there is also a need to support health and immunisation services to prevent continued backsliding, the organisation said.