UN'S NEW GLOBAL IMMUNISATION PUSH AIMS TO SAVE OVER 50 MILLION LIVES

Even though the COVID-19 pandemic has hit everyone hard, the children population, however, has been most affected and child illness and vaccination of other diseases have been affected severely. Northeast Today writes about the UNICEF's mission to protect this vulnerable population.

First Words

Much before the COVID-19 pandemic struck, there were worrying signs that the fight against preventable child illness was weakening and around 20 million children would be missing out on critical vaccinations. United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) had further said that the disruption in children vaccination caused by the COVID-19 pandemic at the beginning of 2020 meant that vaccine deliveries fell from 2.29 billion in 2019 to just over two billion vaccine doses last year.

It further said that the COVID-19 pandemic worsened the situation and millions of more children were left unimmunized. However, with COVID-19 vaccines being administered across the globe, the urgent need at this hour, according to UNICEF, was to catch up on children's measles, polio, and other vaccines that were left out earlier and that there was no time to waste and more the delay now meant more deaths of children.

Meanwhile, the World Health Organisation (WHO) along with partner GAVI, the Vaccine Alliance, urged universal access to immunization and far greater investment in primary health care to support mass jab drives.