COVID-19 pandemic. A Lancet study reveals 13 million more children unvaccinated between 2020 and 2023 due to disrupted programs, economic inequality, and misinformation. This jeopardizes both individual and public health, undermining herd immunity efforts.
Covid pandemic, leaving millions of children unprotected from diseases such as measles, tuberculosis and polio.
The researchers are calling for a concerted effort to provide better and more equal access to vaccines.
Child health experts warn that cuts to international aid budgets that fund vaccination programmes, combined with vaccine scepticism, are creating a "perfect storm".
The global childhood vaccination programme has been a huge success.
Since 1974, more than four billion children have been vaccinated, preventing an estimated 150 million deaths worldwide.
There was a concerted effort to vaccinate people between 1980 and 2023, the researchers found, resulting in a 75% drop in the number of children who are “zero-dose” — those younger than 1 who have not received any doses of the diphtheria-tetanus-pertussis vaccine, which is often used as a way to measure overall immunization coverage.
The findings should be taken as a clear warning that global immunisation targets for 2030 will not be met without urgent action to turn things around, researchers said.
outbreaks pose a growing global risk. Increasing numbers of wild-type polio cases have been reported in Afghanistan and Pakistan, and there is a polio outbreak in Papua New Guinea, where less than half of the population is immunised.
In 2024, there was a nearly tenfold increase in measles infections recorded in Europe. The measles outbreak in the US reached more than 1,000 confirmed cases in 30 states in May 2025, surpassing the total number of cases in 2024.
The consequences of dropping vaccination rates are already evident in rising cases of diseases such as measles and polio. In particular, the resurgence of measles within the European Union and the United States serves as a stark reminder that complacency can have severe repercussions . Furthermore, outbreaks of polio in countries like Pakistan and Afghanistan highlight the urgent need for renewed focus on vaccination efforts. As health officials emphasize the importance of reaching the World Health Organization's goal of vaccinating 90% of children by 2030, it becomes clear that immediate action is necessary to safeguard future generations from preventable diseases .
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