Vaccination rates around the world have reached their lowest point in years. Could COVID be to blame?

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Skepticism surrounding COVID vaccines remains abound as the tumult to overturn still-lingering mandates lingers in the United States, but experts point to a trend that is manifesting in several types of vaccines around the world.

A November study from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found a drop in the number of infants vaccinated against measles, which is linked to the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The study found a steady decline in the percentage of young children vaccinated against measles, with 2021 figures hitting their lowest point since 2008.

“One of the impacts of the COVID pandemic has been a setback in performance, the ability of immunization programs to reach the people who need to be vaccinated and the result is that we now have approximately 23 million children worldwide who have not received the vaccines they should have received and, of these 23 million children, about 17 million of them have never even received a single dose of vaccine in the routine immunization program Kate O’Brien, head of the World Health Organization’s immunization program, said during an April question-and-answer session for World Immunization Week.

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A healthcare professional administers a dose of vaccine. (Stock)

“We are currently in a hole where there has been a loss of about a decade of progress in immunization programs across the world,” she added.

The problem emerged in Zimbabwe earlier this year, where the country has been battling a devastating measles outbreak which the health ministry says has claimed more than 700 lives.

In South Africa, the National Institute of Communicable Diseases (NICD) raised concerns about 57 outbreaks in two provinces in a report last month.

In Europe, the war between Russia and Ukraine and low vaccination rates are believed to be behind the sharp tripling of measles cases among Ukrainian citizens, according to data from the World Health Organization, and data from the CDC show a small number of outbreaks in the United States, including one that took Columbus, Ohio, by storm this year.

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A patient with measles. (Stock)

Data from UNICEF, in partnership with the World Health Organization, revealed a drop in vaccination rates for other conditions as well, including diphtheria-tetanus-pertussis (DTP3), a “marker of coverage within and between countries” which fell by 5 percentage points. to 81% between 2019 and 2021 and reached its lowest level since 2008.

“Global immunization continues to decline in 2021 with 25 million children deprived of life-saving vaccines, 2 million more than in 2020 and 6 million more than in 2019,” the agency wrote in July.

“The latest WHO/UNICEF National Immunization Coverage Estimates (WUENIC) also show that 112 countries have experienced stagnant or declining DTP3 coverage since 2019, with 62 of these countries declining by at least 5 percentage points. or under-vaccinated in 2021,” the article continues.

The CDC pointed to declines in other global vaccine coverage estimates last month.

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This photograph taken on March 5, 2021 shows a World Health Organization (WHO) sign at the entrance to its headquarters in Geneva amid the Covid-19 coronavirus outbreak. (FABRICE COFFRINI/AFP via Getty Images)

“Global coverage estimates were also lower in 2021 than in 2020 and 2019 for the Bacillus Calmette-Gurin (BCG) vaccine as well as for the full series of the Haemophilus influenzae type b (Hib) vaccine, hepatitis B vaccine (HepB), poliomyelitis vaccine (Pol), and rubella-containing vaccine (RCV).

But vaccine delivery problems are mounting, even as the pandemic looms large in the rearview mirror of most Americans, leaving health experts to find a culprit behind the dilemma.

Many point to supply chain issues brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic, particularly shortages in disadvantaged nations or communities around the world.

In the area of ​​COVID-19 vaccines, UNICEF, echoing CDC sentiments, exposed possible culprits for poor administration in some areas, including “service and supply chain disruptions related to the COVID, diversion of resources to response efforts and containment measures which limited access and availability of immunization services.

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Income emerged as another culprit, with high-income countries receiving more doses than those in low-income countries.

“Only 16% of people in low-income countries have received a single dose of the vaccine, compared to 80% in high-income countries,” the report said.

The agency also pointed to other issues, including living in “fragile environments” and “misinformation” about vaccines as possible factors.

Other illnesses have taken their toll on children in the United States this year, including an outbreak of influenza and RSV.

Fox News medical contributor Dr. Marc Siegel highlighted the topic of “vaccine fatigue” on “Fox & Friends” last month, pointing to a further decline in the number of Americans being vaccinated against the flu this year.

“The flu vaccine has been around in one form or another since the 1950s,” he said, responding to criticism that COVID vaccines are new. “There have been 23,000 hospitalizations, according to CDC Director Walensky, so the flu is reaching COVID levels and, again, the flu shot can help keep you out of the hospital.”

Taylor Penley is a production assistant at Fox News.

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