Vaccination coverage marks a recovery after the collapse caused by the Covid-19 pandemic. In 2022, 4 million more children were vaccinated worldwide than in the previous year. However, 20.5 million remain those who have missed at least one dose, a high number but in sharp decline compared to 24.4 million in 2021. This is indicated by the data published by WHO and Unicef, which indicate how, of the 73 countries who have experienced substantial declines during the pandemic, 15 have recovered to pre-Covid levels, 24 are on the road to recovery and 34 see stagnation or a decrease.
Of the 20.5 million children who missed one or more doses of diphtheria, tetanus and pertussis vaccine (used as a global indicator for immunization coverage) in 2022, 14.3 million are so-called zero-dose children. The figure represents an improvement on the 18 million children with zero doses in 2021, but remains worse than pre-Covid levels (almost 13 million in 2019). “These data – says Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO director general – are encouraging and are a recognition to those who have worked to restore life-saving vaccination services after two years of sustained decline”. Countries with consistent coverage in pre-pandemic years have recovered better: for example, South Asia has demonstrated faster recovery than Latin America and the Caribbean.
Measles vaccination has not seen the same upswing as other vaccines. First-dose coverage increased to 83% in 2022 from 81% in 2021, but remained below the 86% it reached in 2019. As a result, nearly 22 million children missed vaccination in their first dose in 2022. year of life, 2.7 million more than in 2019.
“Until more countries close the gaps in routine coverage, children around the world will continue to risk dying from preventable diseases,” said UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell. they know no boundaries”.
For the first time, vaccine coverage against HPV or human papillomavirus has exceeded pre-pandemic levels. Immunization programs reached the same number of girls in 2022 as they did in 2019: 67% in high-income countries and 55% in low- and middle-income countries, although well below the 90% target.
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