According to report published by Reuters, people all over the world lost confidence in the importance of routine childhood vaccines against killer diseases like measles and polio during the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a new report from UNICEF.
In 52 of the 55 countries surveyed, the public perception of vaccines for children declined between 2019 and 2021, the UN agency said.
The data was a "worrying warning signal" of rising vaccine hesitancy amid misinformation, dwindling trust in governments and political polarisation, UNICEF, said.
"We cannot allow confidence in routine immunizations to become another victim of the pandemic," Catherine Russell, UNICEF executive director, said in a statement. "Otherwise, the next wave of deaths could be of more children with measles, diphtheria or other preventable diseases.”
The change in perception was particularly worrying, the agency said, as it comes after the largest sustained backslide in childhood immunization in a generation during COVID disruptions.
In total, 67 million children missed out on one or more potentially lifesaving vaccines during the pandemic, and efforts to catch up have so far stalled despite increasing outbreaks.
According to UNCIEF press release, out 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. These are all Asian countries.
With the present economic crisis and lack of vaccination in general in Sri Lanka, it is likely the situation is similar or worse in our country.