Coronavirus pandemic halts 80 million vaccinations
May 22, 2020
The World Health Organization estimates that the lives of nearly 80 million children under the age of 1 are at risk. Vaccination programs for measles, polio and cholera have been suspended amid the coronavirus pandemic.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/ZUMAPRESS
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The global coronavirus pandemic is causing severe disruption to the process of immunization against diseases such as measles, polio and cholera, the World Health Organization (WHO) said Friday. Some 80 million lives of children under the age of 1 are at risk, according to a report from the WHO and partners.
The report, which was compiled by UNICEF, the Sabin Vaccine Institute and GAVI, showed that more than half of the 129 countries where vaccination data was available, reported moderate, severe or total suspensions of services during the months of March and April.
"Disruption to immunization programs from the COVID-19 pandemic threatens to unwind decades of progress against vaccine-preventable diseases like measles," WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said in a statement.
"We must not forget the dozens of lifesaving vaccines that already exist and must continue to reach children everywhere," Tedros wrote on Twitter.
Lockdown causes delay in vaccination delivery
UNICEF stated there had been major delays in vaccine deliveries due to the global lockdown and the significant reduction in flights that came with it.
More than 40 of Africa's 54 nations have closed their borders, though some allow cargo and emergency transport. Officials added that 46 campaigns to immunize children against polio had been put on hold in 38 countries, most of which were in Africa. Measles campaigns have been brought to a temporary halt in 27 countries.
Experts recommend routine immunizations of all children before the age of 2.
The WHO reluctantly recommended a temporary halt to polio immunization campaigns in April. Wiping out polio requires more than 90% of children to be immunized.
At least 12 countries in Africa have recorded polio outbreaks this year.
WHO international health emergency declarations
In the event of a deadly outbreak, World Health Organization (WHO) experts can declare whether the disease constitutes a global health emergency. It's a distinction the WHO has only made five times in the past decade.
Image: AP
A public health emergency
In the event of a deadly disease outbreak, a group of World Health Organization (WHO) experts can declare a "public health emergency of international concern," or PHEIC, to trigger global action. Since the procedures to declare a PHEIC were implemented in 2005, the WHO has only done so six times. Let's take a look back at the prior instances.
Image: AP
Coronavirus
In 2020, the WHO declared a global health emergency over a new coronavirus that originated in China but that spread to several countries across the world, including Germany. Officials said the declaration was due to "the potential for this virus to spread to countries with weaker health systems which are ill-prepared to deal with it."
Image: picture-alliance/AP Photo/V. Yu
Swine flu
It is estimated that the 2019 H1N1 influenza (also known as swine flu) pandemic, which began in Veracruz, Mexico, killed as many as 284,500 people. That's more than 15 times the original estimate of 18,500. The UK-based journal Lancet Infectious Diseases, however, has suggested that the true number of dead could have ultimately been as high as 579,000. Here, a Chinese medic prepares a vaccination.
Image: Getty Images/AFP
Ebola in West Africa
The outbreak of the Ebola virus in Sierra Leone, Guinea and Liberia between 2013 and 2016 was deadlier than all other Ebola outbreaks combined, killing at least 11,300 people. A 2018 study by the Oxford-based Journal of Infectious Diseases estimated the outbreak cost the three countries involved as much as $53 billion (€48 billion).
Image: Reuters
Polio
In 2014, Pakistan's failure to curb the spread of polio prompted the WHO to declare the disease's resurgence a PHEIC. The warning covered Pakistan, Syria and Cameroon. At the time, Pakistan accounted for more than one-fifth of the world's 417 reported cases.
Image: picture alliance/ZUMA Press/M. Achakzai
Zika
In 2016, the Zika virus was declared a PHEIC by the WHO. The outbreak was identified in Brazil in 2015. Ultimately, the disease spread to 60 countries, with 2,300 confirmed cases of microcephaly among newborns. Microcephaly causes birth defects such as abnormally small heads, which can lead to developmental problems.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/A. Lacerda
Ebola in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC)
In July 2019, after its fourth meeting since the DRC's outbreak began, the WHO Emergency Committee on Ebola declared it a PHEIC. As of January 14, 2020, the WHO had confirmed 3,406 cases of Ebola in the DRC, including some 2,236 deaths since the outbreak began in August 2018. The WHO estimates the disease could cost the DRC as much as $1 billion (€900,000 million).
