Public perception of childhood vaccines dropped during pandemic

The public perception of the importance of childhood vaccines declined during the Covid-19 pandemic in 52 out of 55 countries studied, according to a new report from UNICEF.

The State of the World’s Children 2023: For Every Child, Vaccination found in most countries, people under 35 and women were more likely to report less confidence about childhood vaccines after the start of the pandemic.

The report said that further analysis will be required to determine if the findings are indicative of a longer-term trend. Despite the falls, overall support for vaccines remains relatively strong and in almost half the 55 countries studied more than 80% of respondents perceived vaccines as important for children.

However, the report warns the confluence of several factors suggest the threat of vaccine hesitancy may be growing. These factors include uncertainty about the response to the pandemic, growing access to misleading information, declining trust in expertise, and political polarisation.

Catherine Russell, UNICEF Executive Director, said: “At the height of the pandemic, scientists rapidly developed vaccines that saved countless lives. But despite this historic achievement, fear and disinformation about all types of vaccines circulated as widely as the virus itself. This data is a worrying warning signal. We cannot allow confidence in routine immunizations to become another victim of the pandemic. Otherwise, the next wave of deaths could be of more children with measles, diphtheria or other preventable diseases.”

Catch-up vaccination efforts needed to protect children and prevent disease outbreaks

The report also said that a total of 67 million children missed out on childhood vaccines between 2019 and 2021, with vaccination coverage levels decreasing in 112 countries. Children born just before or during the pandemic are now moving past the age when they would normally be vaccinated, underscoring the need for urgent action to catch up on those who were missed and prevent deadly disease outbreaks.

Of the 67 million children who missed out on routine vaccination between 2019 and 2021, 48 million didn’t receive a single routine vaccine, also known as “zero-dose”. As of the end of 2021, India and Nigeria (both countries with very large birth cohorts) had the largest numbers of zero-dose children but increases in the numbers of zero-dose children were especially notable in Myanmar and the Philippines.

To address this child survival crisis, UNICEF is calling on governments to double-down on their commitment to increase financing for immunisation and to work with stakeholders to unlock available resources, including Covid-19 funds, to urgently implement and accelerate catch-up vaccination efforts to protect children and prevent disease outbreaks.

The report is urging governments to:

• Urgently identify and reach all children, especially those who missed vaccinations during the Covid-19 pandemic
• Strengthen demand for vaccines, including by building confidence
• Prioritise funding to immunisation services and primary health care
• Build resilient health systems through investment in female health workers, innovation and local manufacturing