Child vaccination rates fall to decade low amid pandemic

ABSTRACT

“Multiple disease outbreaks would be catastrophic for communities and health systems already battling COVID-19, making it more urgent than ever to invest in childhood vaccination and ensure every child is reached,” he said in a statement released on July 15. The pandemic has highlighted the importance of developing data systems that are timely and high quality in providing equitable access to immunisation for all, and allow real-time tracking of immunisation efforts, according to Jonathan Mosser, an assistant professor at the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation at the University of Washington’s School of Medicine, who was an author on The Lancet report. See PDF] Winluck Shayo, the chief executive officer of AfyaTrack, a health tech organization that tracks maternal and child health among Swahili-speaking communities in Africa, says the COVID-19 pandemic should serve as a lesson for governments across the world on how to sustain essential health services – such as childhood immunization – during the pandemic.