The public perception of the importance of vaccines for children declined during the COVID-19 pandemic in 52 out of 55 countries. This was revealed by the UNICEF report published entitled “State of the World’s Children 2023: For Every Child, Vaccination.” One of these countries is the Philippines, where the perception of the importance of vaccines for children declined by about 25%.
The global report warned that a total of 67 million children missed out on vaccinations between 2019 and 2021, with vaccination coverage levels decreasing in 112 countries during that period. Of the 67 million children globally, who missed out on routine vaccination between 2019 and 2022, 48 million did not receive a single routine vaccine (“zero-dose”). The Philippines recorded one million zero-dose children, the second highest in East Asia and the Pacific Region, and the fifth highest globally.
The report also warned the confluence of several factors suggest the threat of vaccine hesitancy may be growing. Vaccine hesitancy refers to delay in acceptance or refusal of safe vaccines despite availability of vaccination services. Although the COVID-19 pandemic has ended, growing access to misleading information, declining trust in expertise, and polarization remain.
Vaccine hesitancy contributes to low immunization coverage which puts children at risk of death, disability, and illness from vaccine-preventable diseases. The country’s fully immunized child (FIC) coverage rate, meanwhile, in.
