UN voices concern over COVID-19 impact on global immunisations as children miss out on vaccinations

One in five children across the world has received no vaccines at all as the coronavirus crisis halts immunisation campaigns, the UN chief on Thursday said, voicing concern over the widening gaps in the global vaccine delivery and calling for safe ways to continue delivering vaccinations amid the pandemic. In his message to the GAVI's virtual Global Vaccine Summit, UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres said the COVID-19 pandemic is the "greatest public health crisis of our generation" and a vaccine to treat the disease must be made available to all.

Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, is a United Nations backed organisation which coordinates vaccinations across the world. "A COVID-19 vaccine must be seen as a global public good -- a people's vaccine, which a growing number of world leaders are calling for," he said, adding that when the vaccine becomes available, it must be ensured that it reaches everyone. The UN chief voiced concern that the coronavirus pandemic has impacted global immunisation campaigns and children are missing out on receiving critical vaccinations. "Twenty million children are missing their full complement of vaccines. And one in five has received no vaccines at all. Now, under the shadow of COVID-19, their plight is even more desperate," he said, adding that immunisation campaigns are being halted and gaps in global vaccine delivery could grow wider.

He urged the international community to commit to find safe ways to continue delivering vaccinations, even as COVID-19 spreads and that networks of vaccine-delivery are used to deliver a range of other primary health services. Underscoring that a COVID-19 vaccine by itself is not enough, Guterres stressed the need for global solidarity to ensure that every person, everywhere, has access to it. The Summit celebrates the lifesaving miracle of a vaccination, the most important public health intervention in history that saves tens of millions of lives every year, he said.

Emphasizing that diseases know no borders, Guterres said a fully-funded GAVI will be critical to ensure nations continue the progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals..