Global childhood vaccination improves in 2024, but progress threatened by conflict and misinformation

A million more children completed the critical three-dose vaccination against diseases like diphtheria, tetanus and whooping cough in 2024 compared to the previous year, according to new data released by the World Health Organization.

Despite the progress, drastic changes in funding, growing global conflicts, and rising vaccine misinformation threaten to further stall or even reverse progress which poses a threat.

“We’ve hit this very stubborn glass ceiling, and breaking through that glass to protect more children against vaccine-preventable diseases is becoming more difficult,” WHO’s director of the Department of Immunization, Vaccines and Biologicals, Kate O’Brien, told reporters.

In 2024, 89% of infants globally, about 115 million, received at least one dose of the DTP vaccine, and roughly 109 million completed all three doses of the staple shot that protects against diphtheria, tetanus and pertussis, also known as whooping cough, according to the new national immunization coverage data released on Tuesday by the WHO and UNICEF.

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But, nearly 20 million infants missed at least one dose of DTP-containing vaccine, which includes 14.3 million “zero-dose” children who never received a single dose of any vaccine.

This is 4 million more than the target for the year needed to stay on track with Immunization Agenda 2030 goals, the report added.

The world is currently off track for the goal, which has been to halve the number of zero-dose children and achieve at least 90% global immunization coverage.

Data shows a quarter of the world’s infants live in just 26 countries affected by fragility, conflict, or humanitarian crises, yet make up half of all unvaccinated children globally.

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In half of these countries the number of unvaccinated children has expanded rapidly from 3.6 million in 2019 to 5.4 million in 2024.

“We’re starting to see the emerging signs of slippage, and in other countries, stalling of vaccine coverage,” said O’Brien.

Despite the challenges, countries have been able to scale up vaccines for diseases such as HPV, meningitis, pneumococcal disease, polio, and rotavirus.

In 2024, 31% of eligible adolescent girls globally received at least one dose of the HPV vaccine.

While this is far from the 90% coverage target by 2030, it represents a substantial increase from the 17% coverage in 2019.

Global coverage against measles also improved, but the overall coverage rate is far below the 95% needed in every community to prevent outbreaks.

“The good news is that we have managed to reach more children with life-saving vaccines. But millions of children remain without protection against preventable diseases, and that should worry us all,” said UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell.