Global routine vaccination coverage fell in 2020
Click Here to Manage Email Alerts
Globally, more than 17 million children did not receive the first dose of a vaccine against diphtheria, tetanus and pertussis in 2020 as coverage fell to levels not seen in 14 years, researchers reported in MMWR.
There also were declines in coverage of polio and measles vaccines from 2019 to 2020 — decreases “likely related to effects of the COVID-19 pandemic,” Pierre Muhoza, PhD, an Epidemic Intelligence Service officer in the CDC’s Center for Global Health, and colleagues wrote.
According to their report, coverage of a first dose of diphtheria and tetanus toxoids and pertussis-containing vaccine (DTP) dropped from 90% to 87% — the lowest level since 2006 —and coverage with a third dose declined from 86% to 83%, a level not seen since 2009.
Coverage for the first and third doses of the DTP vaccine had remained between 89% and 90% and between 84% and 86%, respectively, from 2010 to 2019. Coverage of third doses of polio vaccine and first doses of measles-containing vaccine also remained at these levels for the same time period. However, in 2020, estimated global coverage of a third dose of polio vaccine decreased to 83%, and coverage of a first dose of measles vaccine dropped to 84%.
The 17.1 million children who did not receive their first DTP dose in 2020 was an increase of 3.5 million from 2019.
First-dose DTP ranged from 79% in the Africa to 97% in Europe, whereas third doses ranged from 72% in African to 95% in the Western Pacific.
The authors noted that the Western Pacific Region was the only region with unchanged levels of third-dose DTP coverage from 2019 to 2020. All other regions experienced decreases.
“Action is urgently needed to address immunity gaps caused by pandemic-related disruptions in immunization delivery to prevent vaccine-preventable disease outbreaks in countries with health systems already burdened by COVID-19,” they wrote.
From 2010 to 2019, global coverage of a first dose of measles vaccine remained between 84% and 86%, whereas second doses increased from 42% to 71%. The increase reflected introductions of second doses in many countries, the authors wrote. However, in 2020, global first dose measles vaccine coverage decreased to 84%, the lowest level since 2014. Second-dose coverage dropped from 71% to 70% in that time frame.
First-dose measles vaccine coverage in 2020 ranged from 68% in Africa to 95% in the Western Pacific. Second dose coverage ranged from 36% in Africa to 94% in the Western Pacific in the same time frame.
“Defining country-specific strategies to identify missed children, minimize missed opportunities for vaccination, and implement catch-up vaccination is critical to lessen the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on progress toward achieving global immunization goals,” Muhoza and colleagues wrote.
Collapse
Read more about
Click Here to Manage Email Alerts