Due to the corona pandemic and problems in conflict regions, routine vaccinations for children have fallen more than ever before in the past 30 years. In 2021, 25 million children would have missed at least one of the three DTP vaccinations, the World Health Organization (WHO) and the UN children's fund Unicef reported on Friday in Geneva.
DTP is a combination vaccine against diphtheria, tetanus and whooping cough (pertussis). "The consequences will be measured in human lives," warned Unicef boss Catherine Russell.
In 2020, 23 million children would have missed at least one of the three vaccination dates, in 2019 - before the pandemic - there were only 19 million. Overall, the proportion of children who received all three vaccinations fell from 86 to 81 percent between 2019 and 2021.
In addition to the corona pandemic, during which staff had to be withdrawn from routine vaccination programs in some countries, and problems in reaching children in conflict regions, the organizations also cite growing misinformation about vaccinations as reasons.
Most children who missed DTP vaccinations lived in India, Nigeria, Indonesia, Ethiopia and the Philippines, according to Unicef and WHO. On the other hand, Uganda and Pakistan managed to achieve high vaccination rates again last year.
