The Philippines is among the top 5 countries with the biggest increase in children who did not receive the first dose of the diphtheria-tetanus-pertussis combined vaccine (DTP-1) in 2020, according to the United Nations.
The UN said disruptions in immunization services were widespread in 2020. The World Health Organization (WHO) said this could lead to resurgence in vaccine-preventable diseases such as measles.
Based on their data, half a million or 557,000 Filipino children missed their DTP-1 vaccines last year. This was a 23.78-percent increase from the 450,000 Filipino children who missed their DTP-1 vaccines in 2019.
“Even as countries clamour to get their hands on Covid-19 vaccines, we have gone backwards on other vaccinations, leaving children at risk from devastating but preventable diseases like measles, polio or meningitis,” WHO Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said in a news statement.
“Multiple disease outbreaks would be catastrophic for communities and health systems already battling Covid-19, making it more urgent than ever to invest in childhood vaccination and ensure every child is reached,” he added.
Based on the data, in terms of DTP-1, other countries with the greatest increase in children not receiving a first dose were India, Pakistan, Indonesia and Mexico.
The UN said the number of children who failed to get their first inoculation increased in all regions. As compared with 2019, 3.5 million more children missed their first dose of DTP-1, while 3 million more children missed their first measles dose.
“This evidence should be a clear warning—the Covid-19 pandemic and related disruptions cost us valuable ground we cannot afford to lose—and the consequences will be paid in the lives and well-being of the most vulnerable,” Unicef Executive Director Henrietta Fore said.
“Even before the pandemic, there were worrying signs that we were beginning to lose ground in the fight to immunize children against preventable child illness, including with the widespread measles outbreaks two years ago. The pandemic has made a bad situation worse. With the equitable distribution of Covid-19 vaccines at the forefront of everyone’s minds, we must remember that vaccine distribution has always been inequitable, but it does not have to be,” she explained.
The preliminary UN data showed that as of 2020, the coverage of children vaccinated with Bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG) in the Philippines, which is primarily used against tuberculosis was down to 64 percent from 69 percent in 2019.
DTP-1 coverage in the country was at 74 percent in 2020; Diphtheria-tetanus-pertussis (DTP3), 71 percent; Hepatitis B (HepB3), 71 percent; Hepatitis B, 53 percent; Haemophilus influenzae type b third dose (Hib3), 71 percent; and Inactivated polio vaccine (IPV1), 69 percent.
The preliminary data also showed Measles-containing-vaccine first-dose (MCV1) coverage is at 72 percent in 2020; Measles-containing-vaccine second-dose (MCV2), 68 percent; pneumococcal conjugate (PCV3), 66 percent; polio (Pol3), 72 percent; and Rubella-containing vaccine (RCV), 72 percent.
“These are alarming numbers, suggesting the pandemic is unraveling years of progress in routine immunization and exposing millions of children to deadly, preventable diseases,” said Dr. Seth Berkley, CEO of Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance. “This is a wake-up call—we cannot allow a legacy of Covid-19 to be the resurgence of measles, polio and other killers. We all need to work together to help countries both defeat Covid-19, by ensuring global, equitable access to vaccines, and get routine immunization programmes back on track. The future health and well-being of millions of children and their communities across the globe depends on it.”
The UN said that even prior to the Covid-19 pandemic, global childhood vaccination rates against diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis, measles and polio had stalled for several years at around 86 percent.
This rate is well below the 95 percent recommended by WHO to protect against measles—often the first disease to resurge when children are not reached with vaccines—and insufficient to stop other vaccine-preventable diseases.
With many resources and personnel diverted to support the Covid-19 response, there have been significant disruptions to immunization service provision in many parts of the world.
In some countries, clinics have been closed or work hours reduced, while people may have been reluctant to seek health care because of fear of transmission or have experienced challenges reaching services due to lockdown measures and transportation disruptions.