89% of infants vaccinated globally in 2024, WHO, UNICEF warn of risks

The United Nations agencies have reported that in 2024, approximately 89 per cent of infants worldwide, about 115 million children, received at least one dose of the diphtheria, tetanus, and pertussis (DTP) vaccine.

This update comes from new national immunisation coverage data released on July 14 by the World Health Organisation (WHO) and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF).

Compared to 2023, an additional 171,000 children received at least one vaccine dose, and one million more completed the full three-dose DTP series.

While these gains are modest, they reflect ongoing global efforts to protect children in spite of rising challenges.

However, nearly 20 million infants still missed at least one DTP vaccine dose in 2024, including 14.3 million “zero-dose” children who never received any vaccine.

This figure exceeds the 2024 target by four million, putting global immunisation goals outlined in the Immunisation Agenda 2030 at risk.

WHO Director-General Dr Tedros Ghebreyesus emphasised the life-saving power of vaccines, stating, “It’s encouraging to see an increase in children vaccinated, but we still have much work to do. “Cuts in aid and vaccine misinformation threaten to reverse decades of progress.”

He highlighted factors contributing to under-vaccination, including limited healthcare access, supply disruptions, conflict, and misinformation.

“Data from 195 countries show 131 have consistently reached at least 90 per cent coverage with the first DTP dose since 2019. Yet, progress is stalling in 47 countries, with 22 nations seeing declines after previously meeting this target.”

Tedros warned that conflict and humanitarian crises significantly undermined vaccination efforts.

“A quarter of the world’s infants live in 26 fragile or conflict-affected countries, which account for half of all unvaccinated children globally.

“In these areas, unvaccinated children rose from 3.6 million in 2019 to 5.4 million in 2024, highlighting an urgent need for integrated immunisation in humanitarian responses.

“Immunisation coverage in 57 low-income countries supported by Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, improved in 2024, reducing the number of under-vaccinated children by about 650,000.

“Yet, some upper-middle- and high-income countries face early signs of declining coverage, which increases the risk of disease outbreaks.”

UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell welcomed the progress but warned millions of children remained vulnerable to preventable diseases.

She called for urgent action to overcome barriers such as shrinking health budgets, fragile systems, misinformation, and conflict-related access issues.

Russell noted encouraging expansions in vaccines against HPV, meningitis, pneumococcal disease, polio, and rotavirus.

“Global HPV vaccine coverage among eligible adolescent girls rose from 17 per cent in 2019 to 31 per cent in 2024, although it remains far below the 90 per cent target set for 2030.”

Gavi CEO Dr Sania Nishtar added that while lower-income countries protected more children than ever, population growth, fragility, and conflict continued to hamper equity in vaccination efforts.

She highlighted improvements in measles coverage but cautioned that it still fell short of the 95 per cent threshold required to prevent outbreaks.

“Measles outbreaks nearly doubled from 33 countries in 2022 to 60 in 2024.”

Nishtar stressed that funding shortfalls, instability, and rising misinformation threaten to stall or reverse progress, risking increased deaths from vaccine-preventable diseases.

WHO and UNICEF called on governments and partners to close funding gaps for Gavi’s 2026–2030 strategic cycle to protect millions of children.

They also urged strengthening immunisation efforts in conflict-affected and fragile settings, and prioritising locally led strategies and increased domestic investment in primary healthcare systems.

Additionally, the agencies emphasised the need to counter vaccine misinformation through evidence-based campaigns.

They also called for greater investment in robust data collection and disease surveillance systems to guide effective immunisation programmes.