A worldwide vaccination campaign has successfully immunized over 100 million children since its launch in 2023, according to the World Health Organization and vaccine alliance Gavi announced Thursday.
The program, called “The Big Catch-Up,” was created during World Immunisation Week in 2023 to address vaccination shortfalls that occurred during the COVID-19 pandemic. The effort targeted children between ages 1 and 5 across 36 nations and wrapped up in March of this year.
According to the health organizations, approximately 12.3 million children who had never received any vaccinations were protected against diseases including diphtheria and polio. An additional 15 million children received measles vaccinations for the first time through this program.
Although complete statistics are still being gathered, officials say the worldwide effort is expected to achieve its goal of reaching at least 21 million children who were either unvaccinated or under-vaccinated.
This vaccination drive occurs as funding challenges emerge, with some longtime supporters like the United States reducing financial assistance despite millions of babies continuing to miss essential immunizations annually. These children remain at risk for preventable illnesses including measles, diphtheria and polio.
Ephrem Lemango, Chief of Immunization at UNICEF, warned that recent significant reductions in global health funding have “seriously affected delivery of immunization services” and could “likely reverse hard earned progress.”
In 2023, U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who has expressed skepticism about vaccines, reduced financial backing for Gavi, an organization that assists in purchasing vaccines for the world’s most impoverished nations. Kennedy has alleged the organization overlooks safety concerns regarding the immunizations it distributes.
Approximately 14.5 million children failed to receive basic vaccinations in 2023, with nations experiencing armed conflicts showing some of the most severe declines in immunization rates.
