Health Officials Warn: Drop in Vaccinations Endangers Children Globally

Health officials are increasingly alarmed by a significant decline in global child vaccination rates, a trend that poses dire risks to millions of children worldwide. A recent study published in The Lancet indicates that the COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated this issue, with nearly 13 million additional children remaining unvaccinated between 2020 and 2023 . The disruption of routine immunization programs, coupled with economic inequality and rampant misinformation, has created an environment where vaccine-preventable diseases can thrive. This decline threatens not only individual health but also public health initiatives aimed at achieving herd immunity.

The situation has been made worse by the 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.

Vaccine-preventable disease 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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Sara H

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