Measles Vaccination was Disregarded During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Vaccination coverage has declined since the COVID-19 pandemic, complicating the elimination of measles. The WHO reported that 40 million children missed a measles vaccine dose in 2021. Measles outbreaks are attributed to the weakness in immunization programs and health services.  

“The situation is grave: measles is one of the most contagious human viruses but is almost entirely preventable through vaccination. Coverage of 95 percent or greater of 2 doses of measles-containing vaccine is needed to create herd immunity in order to protect communities and achieve and maintain measles elimination,” says WHO. 

During the pandemic, public and private health actors collaborated to rapidly develop and apply the COVID-19 vaccine but the application of other vaccines was hampered by the sanitary crisis. with children and adolescents suffering from delays in the application of vaccines for tuberculosis, hepatitis, measles, diphtheria, whooping cough and tetanus, according to data from the EPI Country Report. 

“The paradox of the pandemic is that while vaccines against COVID-19 were developed in record time and deployed in the largest vaccination campaign in history, routine immunization programs were badly disrupted, and millions of kids missed out on life-saving vaccinations against deadly diseases like measles,” said Tedros Adhanom, Director General, WHO. 

In 2021, 25 million children missed the first measles dose and 14.7 million children missed the second. Meanwhile, about 9 million measles cases took place during the year, causing over 120,000 deaths globally. 

Vaccination rates in Mexico were shrinking even before the pandemic. WHO and UNICEF pointed out that in 2019 measles coverage shrank by 73 percent in Mexico. Additionally, coverage of vaccines for the bacillus Calmette-Guerin went down by 56 percent and for hepatitis B by 56 percent in the same year. “These figures are worrying, and explain the increase in cases of whooping cough and mumps reported in Mexico, in addition to the resurgence of measles cases,” said AMV, as reported by MBN.

Measles is one of the main causes of death in children. Limited vaccination poses a risk as the virus can rapidly spread among communities and across international borders. Malnourished children and those with a weak immune system are at most risk of developing severe complications from the disease, according to PAHO.

“Measles outbreaks illustrate weaknesses in immunization programs, but public health officials can use outbreak response to identify communities at risk, understand causes of under-vaccination, and help deliver locally tailored solutions to ensure vaccinations are available to all,” said Rochelle Walensky, Director, CDC.