13.5 Million Children Lack Access to Any Vaccines, UN Warns

The United Nations has warned that 13.5 million children did not receive any routine vaccinations last year. The latest estimates from the World Health Organization (WHO) and UNICEF reveal that millions of children worldwide still lack access to basic vaccines. The WHO and UNICEF have cautioned that the pace of vaccination is lagging behind global targets and that cuts in international aid could undermine progress made in recent years.Although there has been an improvement in vaccination rates, the current progress is not sufficient to meet the 2030 targets, and many countries remain at risk. Last year, 13.5 million children did not receive any routine childhood vaccinations. This number represents a decline from the 14.2 million children recorded the previous year, but it remains above pre-Covid-19 pandemic levels.More than half of the children without vaccines live in sub-Saharan Africa. Nigeria has the highest number, followed by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Yemen, Ethiopia, and Angola as the most affected countries.