United Nations, Apr 19 (EFE).- Public perception of the importance of vaccinating children fell sharply in most countries during the covid-19 pandemic, according to a study published today by Unicef, which warns of the risk that this poses for the health of millions of children.
“These data are a worrying red flag. We cannot allow reliance on routine immunizations to become another casualty of the pandemic. Otherwise, the next wave of deaths may affect more children with measles, diphtheria and other preventable diseases,” Catherine Russell, the executive director of the UN agency for children, said in a statement.
The head of Unicef pointed above all to the hoaxes about vaccines seen in recent years as the main factor: “at the worst of the pandemic, scientists quickly developed vaccines that saved countless lives, but despite this historic achievement, the fear and misinformation about all kinds of vaccines circulated as much as the virus itself.
WIDESPREAD DECLINE IN CONFIDENCE
The report shows that in 52 of 55 countries analyzed, public perception of childhood vaccination worsened, with only three places (China, India and Mexico) where it remained the same or improved.
Meanwhile, in other countries such as South Korea, Ghana, Senegal or Japan, that confidence fell by more than a third, which means that in some of them the percentage of the population that perceives vaccines as something important for children is even below 50%.
In Spain, after a setback during the pandemic, that percentage is now 89%, a range similar to that of other European countries such as Portugal, Italy, Ireland, Sweden, Denmark or Finland, all with data between 85 and 92 %.
Meanwhile, others such as the Netherlands (70%), France (75%), Austria (75%), Belgium (77%), Bulgaria (63%) or Latvia (59%) are below, although not as much as Russia. (54%) or Japan (54%).
In America, 93% of Mexicans, 88% of Peruvians, 89% of Brazilians or 79% of Americans see childhood vaccination as important.
Although it stresses that opinions in this area are very volatile, Unicef considers it vital to take this problem seriously, especially since the levels of trust seem to have decreased even more among those under 35 years of age and women, key when it comes to vaccinating children.
Along with the proliferation of misinformation, the report points to other worrisome issues, such as doubts about the response to the pandemic, deteriorating trust in experts, and political polarization as possible explanations.
FALL IN VACCINATION
Covid-19 precisely caused the largest drop in 30 years in child immunization globally, mainly as a result of interruptions in programs that were seen in many countries to be able to attend to the health emergency, the lack of professionals and confinements.
Unicef estimates that some 48 million children were totally unvaccinated between 2019 and 2021 and that almost another 20 million lost some of the doses they should have received.
As a result, vaccination rates have fallen to 2008 levels, undoing the progress made over a decade.
According to Unicef data, one in five children in the world are not vaccinated or have not received the necessary doses, which exposes them to death from diseases that are currently preventable.
For example, about one in five children has no protection against measles, a disease that before the introduction of the vaccine in 1963 killed about 2.6 million people a year, mostly children.
In total, Unicef estimates that vaccines save some 4.4 million lives each year, a figure that could grow to 5.8 million by 2030 if the goals set by the international community are met.
