Child immunisation stalls

UN: THOSE WHO HAD NO JABS UP T0 14.5M LAST YEAR FROM 13.9M IN 2022

2.7m additional kids not vaccinated or under-vaccinated year -Unicef.

Global childhood vaccination levels have stalled, leaving millions more children not vaccinated or under-vaccinated than before the pandemic, the UN said yesterday, warning of dangerous coverage gaps enabling outbreaks of diseases like measles.

In 2023, 84% of children, or 108 million, received three doses of the vaccine against diphtheria, tetanus and pertussis (DTP), with the third dose serving as a key marker for global immunisation coverage, according to data published by the UN health and children's agencies.

That was the same percentage as a year earlier, meaning that modest progress seen in 2022 after the steep drop during the Covid crisis has "stalled", the organisations warned. The rate was 86% in 2019 before the pandemic.