UNICEF and WHO Warns of Mass Vaccination Drives Suspensions

The United Nations Children Fund (UNICEF), the Gavi vaccines alliance and the World Health Organization (WHO) warned on Monday that at least 228 million people, most of them children, remain at risk of severe diseases due to the suspension of 60 mass immunization campaigns amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

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The organizations explained in a joint statement that mass vaccination rollouts had been suspended or derailed in 50 territories worldwide, in some cases for over a year. This adds "to 20 million children already missing out on critical vaccinations" before the COVID-19 pandemic started.

Moreover, the UNICEF reported that in 2020 about 40 million children did not receive any vaccine. Young people in Africa are the hardest hit by the lack of vaccination campaigns, with diseases such as diphtheria, polio, and yellow fever spreading considerably.

According to the Gavi vaccine alliance, "millions of children across the world are likely to miss out on basic vaccines as the current pandemic threatens to unravel two decades of progress in routine immunization."