Confidence in childhood vaccines drops worldwide post-pandemic
Confidence in the importance of vaccinations to protect against deadly childhood diseases like measles and polio dropped worldwide during the pandemic, according to a Unicef report.
In a survey carried out across 55 countries between 2019 and 2021, a decline in the public perception of immunisation was recorded in 52 nations. In some countries, including South Korea, Japan, Papua New Guinea and Ghana, confidence fell by more than a third, while those under 35 and women were more likely to be sceptical about vaccinations.
The data, collected by the Vaccine Confidence Project and published by Unicef on Thursday, found that just China, India and Mexico – which were all hit hard by Covid-19 – were the only countries where attitudes held firm or improved.
The findings are a “worrying signal”, especially after one of the largest setbacks to immunisation rates in a generation. Between 2019 and 2021, roughly 67 million children missed out on critical shots, and vaccination coverage fell across 112 countries.
Deadly consequences
The consequences have been deadly: last year measles cases doubled, while the number of children paralysed by polio jumped by 16 per cent.
“At the height of the pandemic, scientists rapidly developed vaccines that saved countless lives – but despite this historic achievement, fear and disinformation about all types of vaccines circulated as widely as the virus itself,” said Catherine Russell, executive director of Unicef.
“We cannot allow confidence in routine immunisations to become another victim of the pandemic. Otherwise, the next wave of deaths could be of more children with measles, diphtheria or other preventable diseases,” she added.
The report suggested that a toxic combination of misleading information, declining trust in experts, and political polarisation have contributed to the fall in vaccine confidence, as well as uncertainty about the response to the pandemic.
But it stressed that vaccine confidence can easily shift, and repeated surveys will be needed over the coming months and years to confirm whether this is a long term trend. Many countries were also starting from a high point – in half of countries surveyed, at least 80 per cent of people still said childhood vaccinations were important.
“Routine immunisations and strong health systems are our best shot at preventing future pandemics, unnecessary deaths and suffering,” said Ms Russell. She called for governments across the globe to ramp up efforts to build trust in vaccinations and improve coverage.
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