– Last year, 25 million children worldwide missed at least one of the three DTP vaccines. The cause: the coronavirus pandemic and growing misinformation about vaccinations.

Due to the coronavirus pandemic and problems in conflict areas, routine vaccinations for children have fallen more than ever in the last 30 years.

By 2021, 25 million children will miss at least one of three DTP vaccinations, report the World Health Organization (WHO) and UN children’s fund Unicef ​​in Geneva. DTP is a combination vaccine against diphtheria, tetanus and whooping cough (pertussis). “The consequences are measured in people’s lives,” warned UNICEF boss Catherine Russell.

By 2020, 23 million children will miss at least one of the three vaccination dates, in 2019 – before the pandemic – there were only 19 million. Overall, the proportion of children receiving all three vaccinations fell from 86 to 81 percent between 2019 and 2021.

In addition to the coronavirus pandemic, where staff have had to be withdrawn from routine vaccination programs in several countries, and problems reaching children in conflict areas, the organization also cited misinformation about vaccinations as reasons.

Most children who miss DTP vaccination live in India, Nigeria, Indonesia, Ethiopia and the Philippines, according to UNICEF and WHO. On the other hand, Uganda and Pakistan managed to achieve high vaccination rates again last year.