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Immunization and vaccine-preventable communicable diseases

WHO / Blink media - Uma Bista

Over the past decade, routine immunization services for children have expanded greatly, especially in regions where coverage of some vaccination programmes had been low, such as the WHO Africa and South-East Asia Regions. However, some of those immunization services have been affected by COVID-19.

 

DTP3 (third dose of diphtheria, tetanus toxoid and pertussis-containing vaccine) immunization coverage among one-year-olds worldwide decreased from 86% in 2019 to  81% in 2021. This resulted in 25 million children missing out on vaccination, 6 million more than in 2019 and the highest number since 2009

 

Global coverage of MCV2 (second-dose of measles-containing vaccine) immunization remained steady in 2019–2021 (at about 70%). Global coverage of PCV3 (third dose of pneumococcal-containing vaccines) immunization more than quadrupled between 2010 (when it was about 11%) and 2021 as newer vaccines are reaching those who need them more rapidly than before. However, this progress was also disrupted in 2020-2021.

 

 




 

 

Vaccination
25 million
children miss out on lifesaving measles, diphtheria and tetanus vaccines in 2021
HPV introduction
12%
estimated global coverage of 15 years old girls with final dose of HPV in 2021
Greatest number of vaccine introductions in a single year: 2021
WHO and UNICEF Estimates of National Immunization Coverage (WUENIC)
2021 had the greatest number of vaccine introductions ever in a single year, though driven by the COVID-19 vaccine and a few other introductions.
© Credits

2021 had the greatest number of vaccine introductions ever in a single year, though driven by the COVID-19 vaccine and a few other introductions.

Along with a dip in coverage, the pace of non-COVID new and under-utilized vaccine introductions has also slowed down abruptly in 2020, and only slightly picked up in 2021.

25 vaccine introductions were reported in 2021, up from 17 in 2020 but well below the long-run average of around 50 per year in the previous decades.  However, 192 Member States introduced the COVID-19 vaccines in 2020 and 2021. 

 

 

More immunization data products

Related team

Immunization, Vaccines and Biologicals
The Immunization, Vaccines and Biologicals department is responsible for targeting vaccine-preventable diseases, guiding immunization research and establishing immunization policy.
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Immunization, Vaccines and Biologicals
World Health Organization
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