The Covid-19 pandemic had severely weakened health systems and disrupted vaccination campaigns, resulting in a resurgence of contagious diseases such as measles and polio.
Also in 2023, the WHO, along with UNICEF and Gavi, an international organization that helps poor countries introduce vaccines, launched a campaign to major catch-up "Children's vaccinations. This initiative ended on March 31st."
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18.3 million children vaccinated
The final data is still being compiled, but "The global initiative appears to be on track to achieve its goal of reaching at least 21 million unvaccinated or under-vaccinated children."", the three organizations stated in a press release.
From 2023 to 2025, this program enabled the vaccination of approximately 18.3 million children aged 1 to 5 years in 36 countries, thanks to more than 100 million doses of essential vaccines.
Of these children, approximately 12.3 million had never been vaccinated and 15 million were not vaccinated against measles. The program provided 23 million doses of inactivated polio vaccine (IPV) to under-vaccinated or unvaccinated children.
“ By protecting children who were unable to get vaccinated due to disruptions in health services caused by Covid-19, the Great Catch-Up program helped reverse one of the major negative consequences of the pandemic." said WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, quoted in the statement.
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Largest international effort to vaccinate children
This " The largest international effort ever undertaken to vaccinate unvaccinated children with essential vaccines shows what can be achieved when governments, partners, and communities join forces to protect the most vulnerable." , said Gavi's executive director, Sania Nishtar, also quoted in the press release.
During a press briefing, the director of the Vaccination department at UNICEF, Ephrem Lemango, called for routine vaccination efforts to continue, beyond the initiative.
“ The main challenge is to establish vaccination systems capable of reaching and protecting every child in time, before they reach the age limit for vaccination. Currently, 14.3 million children each year do not receive any vaccines as part of routine immunization programs." he noted.
Kate O'Brien, director of the WHO's vaccines department, called for combating skepticism towards vaccination, indicating that she was very concerned about " the increasing politicization of vaccines and health“
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