The public perception of vaccines for children declined during the Covid-19 pandemic, according to a new report from UNICEF.
People around the world lost confidence in the importance of routine childhood vaccinations against killer diseases like measles and polio because of post-Covid misinformation and dwindling trust in governments – the largest backslide in childhood immunization in a generation.
According to new UNICEF data, 67 million children missed out on one or more potentially lifesaving vaccines during the pandemic.
Countries such as South Korea and Papua New Guinea have an especially low belief in the importance of child vaccinations, registering interest of only 42% and 44% respectively.
Although worrying, the report indicates that vaccine confidence could improve and the situation may not be a long-term trend.
