A landmark Lancet study shows global childhood vaccination progress has reversed since 2010, with measles coverage dropping in 100 countries. The pandemic created 12.8 million more unvaccinated children, with Nigeria and India accounting for half of cases. Researchers warn this increases risks of deadly outbreaks like polio and diphtheria. Vaccine misinformation and unequal access are undermining decades of immunization progress worldwide.
June 25, 2025
Millions of children at risk as global childhood vaccination rates plummet since 2010: Lancet
"Despite monumental efforts, progress
has been far from universal" - Dr. Jonathan Mosser, IHME
With a significant decline in the progress
made in global childhood vaccination rates since 2010, lives of millions of
children are at vulnerable to preventable diseases and death, according to a
new study published in The Lancet on Wednesday.
Key Points
1 Measles
vaccinations declined in 100 countries since 2010
2 15.6M
children missed DTP/measles shots during pandemic
3 Half of
unvaccinated kids live in 8 countries including India, Nigeria
4 Vaccine
misinformation worsening immunization gaps
The study led by researchers from the
Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation at the University of Washington,
analysed coverage rates for 11 core vaccines for diseases like diphtheria,
tetanus, whopping cough, and measles recommended by the World Health
Organization (WHO) across 204 countries and territories.
The findings showed that between 1980 and
2023, worldwide vaccine coverage doubled against diseases such as diphtheria,
tetanus, whooping cough (pertussis), measles, polio, and tuberculosis.
In addition, there was also a 75 per cent
global decline in the number of children who had never received a routine
childhood vaccine (also known as zero-dose children), falling from 58.8 million
in 1980 to 14.7 million in 2019 before the Covid-19 pandemic.
But since 2010, progress has stalled or
reversed in many countries. For example, measles vaccinations declined in 100
of 204 countries between 2010 and 2019, while 21 of 36 high-income countries
experienced declines in coverage for at least one vaccine dose against
diphtheria, tetanus, whooping cough, measles, polio, or tuberculosis, the
research showed.
The Covid pandemic further exacerbated
challenges, leading to sharp decline in global vaccine coverage.
The pandemic resulted in an estimated 15.6
million children missing the full three doses of the diphtheria-tetanus-pertussis
vaccine or a measles vaccine between 2020 and 2023.
Nearly 16 million children also did not
receive any polio vaccine, and 9.18 million missed out on the tuberculosis
vaccine.
The four pandemic years (2020-2023) also saw
around 12.8 million additional unvaccinated zero-dose children worldwide.
“Despite the monumental efforts of the past
50 years, progress has been far from universal. Large numbers of children
remain under- and un-vaccinated”, said senior study author Dr Jonathan Mosser
from the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME), at the varsity.
Besides global inequalities and challenges
from the Covid pandemic, “the growth of vaccine misinformation and hesitancy
also contributed to faltering immunisation progress,” he added.
Further, the global study showed that in
2023, more than half of the world’s 15.7 million unvaccinated children were
living in just eight countries. These were primarily in sub-Saharan Africa (53
per cent) and South Asia (13 per cent): Nigeria, India, the Democratic Republic
of Congo, Ethiopia, Somalia, Sudan, Indonesia, and Brazil.
“These trends increase the risk of outbreaks
of vaccine-preventable diseases, including measles, polio, and diphtheria,
underscoring the critical need for targeted improvements to ensure that all
children can benefit from lifesaving immunisations,” Mosser noted.
The global analysis called for a greater need
to strengthen routine childhood vaccination coverage, boost investment and
targeted strategies to maintain progress, close immunisation gaps, and ensure
equitable access to life-saving vaccines.
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