The growing number of unvaccinated children in crisis-affected countries are at high risk of contracting life-threatening diseases.
On the occasion of the World Immunization Week that begins on April 23 under the motto ‘the great recovery’ or The Big Catch-Upin English, at Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) we call on Gavi, The Vaccine Alliance, and its donors, to ensure that all children aged five and under who have missed some of their routine childhood immunizations, or who have not received any (minors with ‘zero dose’), have a chance to catch up on their immunizations.
Gavi’s current funding mechanism does not adequately cover catch-up vaccinations for children with zero dose. Change the policy to vaccinate older boys or girls sIt would be particularly critical in countries in humanitarian crisis, where there are large groups of minors with zero doses.
Gavi must also take urgent action not to require countries with fragile health systems or humanitarian crises to co-finance additional vaccines, with the purpose of Eliminate any barrier to expanding vaccination coverage for unprotected children.
“The double whammy of the humanitarian crises and the pandemic has left growing numbers of children in many countries where we work at high risk of contracting life-threatening diseases, such as measles, diphtheria or pneumonia, that could be prevented with vaccines. says Miriam Alía Prieto, MSF Advisor on Vaccination and Response to Epidemic Outbreaks.
“Expanding the age range to vaccinate children up to at least five years of age is crucial for those who have not received their scheduled vaccinations. This way they will catch up and gain protection against these potentially deadly diseases. Gavi must take immediate action and provide vaccinations for children up to at least five years of age in countries that want it, to protect millions of vulnerable children whose lives are at stake”he concludes.
The countries with the highest proportion of unvaccinated children are those with weak public immunization systems and low vaccination coverage, including areas facing humanitarian crises and conflict where people live in close quarters, such as refugee camps. Children in these settings lack access to basic medical services, and others, andare more likely to die from preventable diseases but potentially deadly.
For more than five decades, at Doctors Without Borders we have worked to vaccinate children as part of routine immunizations or in response to disease outbreaks in some of the world’s most challenging humanitarian contexts.
In war-torn Syria, for example, Doctors Without Borders administered more than 118,000 doses of vaccines to children under the age of five in 2016. In 2019, our teams vaccinated a large group of boys and girls, who had not received a single dose of vaccine in two years, against nine vaccine-preventable diseases in Mingala, a remote area of the Central African Republic, controlled by armed groups that prevented the entry of any type of aid or humanitarian medical assistance for more than two years. During 2021, MSF vaccinated more than 2.5 million children aged five and under as part of routine vaccinations in our various projects around the world.
Between 2010 and 2019, while the number of zero-dose children fell globally, there was no progress in crisis-affected countries. Besides, there was a historic setback in childhood immunization, due in part to the COVID-19 pandemic, resulting in a decline in global vaccination coverage from 86% in 2019 to 81% in 2021.
Between 2019 and 2021, 67 million children did not receive a single routine vaccination, including 48 million zero-dose children who did not even receive a single dose of basic vaccines, including diphtheria, tetanus, and pertussis (DTP).
Gavi’s policy on fragility, emergencies and displaced populations aims to reach children who do not receive zero doses and who are not vaccinated by offering more flexible support to countries that need it.
Gavi also initiated the Zero Dose Immunization Program to bring zero dose vaccines to children in some of the world’s most difficult areas in the Sahel region and the Horn of Africa. However, Gavi has not been publicly clear about the age groups that these initiatives will cover or the model of financial support that will be offered to countries.
“Despite the progress made in expanding global vaccination coverage, Nearly 11 million unvaccinated or under-vaccinated infants live in fragile environments, including countries affected by conflict, and remain the most vulnerable to disease outbreaks.” says Dr. Sharmila Shetty, Vaccine Medical Adviser for MSF’s Access Campaign.
“Given that countries facing humanitarian crises are already struggling financially to implement routine immunization programmes, We strongly urge Gavi to waive the country co-financing requirement for this recovery expansion, in order to ensure the greatest chance of success. We cannot allow any boy or girl to suffer or lose their life simply because they live far from the reach of available vaccines.”he concludes.
