While efforts to end COVID-19 has continued to gather steam with the successful roll-out of vaccines in over a hundred countries, the pandemic continues to hinder routine immunisation services, thereby putting millions of children at risk of deadly diseases.
The second round of a World Health Organisation “pulse survey” revealed that over one year into the COVID-19 pandemic, substantial disruptions persist, with about 90 per cent of countries still reporting one or more disruptions to essential health services.
The survey published during the  World Immunisation Week 2021 in the last week of April (April 24th-30th) also highlighted the urgent need for a renewed global commitment to improve vaccination access and uptake.
According to the WHO data, 60 mass immunisation campaigns are currently postponed in 50 countries, putting around 228 million people – mostly children – at risk for diseases such as measles, yellow fever and polio.
Over half of the 50 affected countries are in Africa, highlighting protracted inequities in people’s access to critical immunisation services.
“Vaccines will help us end the COVID-19 pandemic but only if we ensure fair access for all countries, and build strong systems to deliver them,” said Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO’s director-general. “And if we’re to avoid multiple outbreaks of life-threatening diseases like measles, yellow fever and diphtheria, we must ensure routine vaccination services are protected in every country in the world.”