22.7 million kids missed jabs: UN

Nearly 23 million children missed out on routine vaccinations last year due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the highest number in more than a decade, fuelling outbreaks of measles, polio and other preventable diseases, UN agencies said yesterday. 

The gap in global vaccination coverage has set up a "perfect storm", leaving more children vulnerable to infectious pathogens just as many countries ease Covid-19 restrictions, the WHO and UN Children's Fund said in an annual report.

Ten countries, led by India and Nigeria, account for the bulk of the 22.7 million children left unvaccinated or under-vaccinated against diphtheria, tetanus, and pertussis (DTP) in 2020 - 3.7 million more than in 2019 and the most since 2009, it said regarding a key indicator of childhood vaccination rates.