The Guardian view on the vaccine shortfall: tackling disruption and distrust | Editorial

Millions of children have missed routine immunisations due to the pandemic. But saving lives is about more than logisticsThe horror of the Covid-19 pandemic brought with it one small cause for optimism: the crisisaccelerated the development of new vaccine technologies, with the potential to protect against other diseases. Yet this leap forward was accompanied by a dramatic backsliding in the delivery of existing vaccines, with23 million children missing out on routine immunisations in 2020 and 25 million in 2021 – the largest sustained decline in three decades.The World Health Organization reports that more prevalent and severe outbreaks of preventable diseases, including diphtheria and polio, are already occurring. While three-quarters of the children who missed out lived in just 20 countries, mostly in Asia, Africa and Latin America, there were declines in richer nations too. The UK Health Security Agency haswarned that uptake of the meningococcal vaccine, and the last routine dose of the combined polio, diphtheria and tetanus vaccine, fell significantly last year among adolescents. Covid-19 overwhelmed healthcare systems and personnel, while lockdowns kept people away from facilities used to deliver shots. Supply chain disruption affected the availability of doses and syringes.Do you have an opinion on the issues raised in this article? If you would like to submit a response of up to 300 words by email to be considered for publication in our letters section, pleaseclick ...
Source: Guardian Unlimited Science - Category: Science Authors: Tags: Vaccines and immunisation Health Global health Coronavirus Infectious diseases Science World Health Organization Source Type: news