Poverty has a huge influence on a child’s access to vaccines. Many of the growing number of children who have never been vaccinated or who have not received all the vaccines they need live in contexts where they face significant economic barriers. Globally, slightly more than one in five children have not received any vaccinations in the poorest households, and that proportion is one in twenty children in the richest households. Many unvaccinated or undervaccinated children live in remote rural areas and in urban slums.
In remote communities, health services are often scarce, and families live far from health facilities. Vaccine availability faces significant obstacles, including supply chain problems, lack of health workers, and shortages of electricity, water, and sanitation.
In the slums of cities, it is common for health systems to lack the necessary means to meet the needs of a large population, and the cost of accessing health care is a major obstacle. Parents and carers who juggle multiple jobs and responsibilities often cannot afford to miss work and pay for transportation to get to health facilities, as such spending would have a major impact on the family’s financial situation.
