According to the World Health Organization and UNICEF, the coronavirus pandemic has led to a significant decline in childhood vaccinations worldwide. In 2020, 23 million children missed out on essential vaccines "due to disruptions in the delivery and uptake of immunization services" caused by COVID-19.
"Vaccination is the most important and relevant strategy in public health to prevent death and severe illness in all ages," said Dr. Carlos Espinal, director of the Global Health Consortium at the Robert Stempel College of Public Health & Social Work. "Vaccines are the best way to protect children from vaccine-preventable diseases."
The Global Health Consortium (GHC) is a collaborative vision – both within the Americas and abroad – to ensure that individuals and communities have greater access to better health. It focuses on coordinating national and international initiatives to provide health solutions to the world.
During GHC's COVID-19 Vaccines: A Global Experts' Summit in June, experts discussed how vaccine misinformation is impacting vaccination programs worldwide. "At this moment, especially with the COVID-19 vaccine, there is a hesitancy among populations,” said Dr. Espinal. “Some people do not trust the COVID-19 vaccine, and this is most likely affecting the regular vaccination program for other routine vaccines."
"It’s crucial that mothers, parents and the general community understand the value of vaccination and that they trust vaccination programs,” he added.
According to Dr. Espinal, global health experts are seeing a re-emergence of preventable diseases like diphtheria, a bacterial infection that can lead to difficulty breathing, heart failure, paralysis, and death . “We haven’t seen an outbreak of diphtheria in the last 20 years, and now we are seeing it in countries like Haiti, Venezuela and Colombia because of the reduction of vaccine coverage.”
This December, GHC will host its annual Global Health Conference of the Americas , where experts will tackle COVID-19 and its impact on vaccination programs, as well as other topics like antimicrobial resistance, arbovirus, health disparities, health and environment, and more. More information about the event will be available in the coming weeks.