Giving Compass' Take:
- Olaolu Odusan discusses the importance of Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance's work of reaching zero-dose children, closing the global COVID-19 immunization gap.
- What is the role of donors, funders, and nonprofits in closing immunization gaps on a global scale?
- Learn more about key issues in health and how you can help.
- Search our Guide to Good for nonprofits focused on health in your area.
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The pandemic may feel like a distant memory, but its aftershocks are far from over. In the quiet gaps, a different story is unfolding, affecting the world’s most vulnerable. Among those left behind in the rush to return to normal are millions of children who have not received even a single vaccine. They are known as the zero-dose children, and reaching these zero-dose children is essential to closing COVID-19 immunization gaps.
In 2019, there were around 12.9 million zero-dose children globally. When the pandemic hit, it caused severe disruptions in global immunization coverage — the worst backslide in 30 years. This drop in coverage resulted in a nearly 40% spike in the number of zero-dose children. Five years later, progress is encouraging: the number of zero-dose children has dropped by 21%.
But before you breathe a sigh of relief, thinking, “Well, we’ve bounced back,” the current figures remain 11% higher than where we started in 2019, when the number stood at 12.9 million. The truth is that we are still failing millions of these zero-dose children.
Who Are These Zero-Dose Children?
Almost half of these children are found in urban slums, isolated rural areas, and regions affected by conflict zero-dose children are those who have not received even a single routine vaccine. Almost half of them live in urban areas, remote communities, and conflict-affected regions within low- and lower-middle-income countries.
As of 2019, two-thirds of zero-dose children were concentrated in just five countries: Nigeria, India, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Pakistan, and Ethiopia. An additional 18% lived in 16 fragile states. DRC and Ethiopia had the highest numbers in remote rural areas, while Nigeria accounted for the largest share of zero-dose children affected by conflict.
They face the highest risk of deadly but preventable disease outbreaks, and what makes it worse is how hard they are to reach. This is because they live in areas that face multiple deprivations and vulnerabilities, including lack of services, socio-economic inequities, and gender-related barriers.
Read the full article about reaching zero-dose children by Olaolu Odusan at Global Citizen.