It's a well-known fact that vaccines reduce the risks of getting a disease by working with your body’s natural defences to build protection. However, despite tremendous progress, vaccination coverage has plateaued in recent years and dropped since 2020. As a result of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, associated disruptions over the past two years, and strained health systems, 25 million children missed out on vaccination in 2021 and it is 6 million more than in 2019 and the highest number since 2009. According to the annual immunisation report recently published jointly by the WHO and UNICEF, 112 countries have experienced stagnant or declining DTP3 coverage since 2019 with 62 of those countries declining by at least 5 percentage points. Dr. Mainak Chatterjee, Immunization Specialist, UNICEF India during his conversation with Financial Express.com talked about the impact on children in India, the country's performance with respect to immunisation coverage, government measures, and steps that need to be taken to improve this situation.
