ImmunizationUN Warns of Measles Spike as COVID-19 Halts Vaccination Campaigns
Essential measles vaccination programs around the world are being postponed indefinitely for more than 100 million children as healthcare systems focus on coronavirus and countries enforce lockdowns and social distancing. The UN urges governments to keep track of unvaccinated children.
More than 117 million children are at risk of missing out on the potentially life-saving measles vaccine because of the coronavirus pandemic, the UN said on Tuesday. Business Insider reports Immunizations have already been delayed in at least twenty-four countries as healthcare systems focus almost exclusively on the coronavirus, and social distancing measures make it difficult to deliver the immunization to children.
Immunization is likely to face delays in thirty-seven countries in the coming weeks, the Measles and Rubella Initiative (M&RI) estimates in a new report. The initiative is backed by the World Health Organization (WHO) and UNICEF, the UN agency for children.
“If the difficult choice to pause vaccination is made due to the spread of COVID-19, we urge leaders to intensify efforts to track unvaccinated children, so that the most vulnerable populations can be provided with measles vaccines as soon as it becomes possible to do so,” the group said in the statement.
“Despite having a safe and effective vaccine for over 50 years, measles cases surged over recent years and claimed more than 140,000 lives in 2018, mostly of children and babies – all of which were preventable,” the organization said in a statement.
“Against this already dangerous backdrop, preventive and responsive measles vaccination campaigns have now been paused or postponed in 24 countries to help avert further spread of COVID-19.”
Measles deaths have dropped markedly worldwide since the introduction of the vaccine, but the WHO says that 140,000 people died of measles in 2018. The “highly contagious” virus is especially fatal for children under the age of five.
The WHO estimates that more than 23 million children were saved from dying between 2000 and 2018 thanks to the vaccine. Overall, the WHO estimates measles affects 20 million people per year.
“If the difficult choice to pause vaccination is made due to the spread of COVID-19, we urge leaders to intensify efforts to track unvaccinated children, so that the most vulnerable populations can be provided with measles vaccines as soon as it becomes possible to do so,” the organization said on Tuesday.
“While we know there will be many demands on health care systems and front-line workers during and beyond the threat of COVID-19, delivering all immunization services, including measles vaccines, is essential to saving lives, including measles vaccines, is essential to saving lives that would otherwise be lost to vaccine-preventable diseases.” the M&RI said in the statement.
Bangladesh, Brazil, the Democratic Republic of Congo, South Sudan, Nigeria, Ukraine, and Kazakhstan have all seen large outbreaks in recent years, and are now seen as particularly at risk.
More than 6,500 children have already died from the disease in the Democratic Republic of Congo, with international deaths expected to reach a 20-year high Nature reported last week.
