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The latest WHO-UNICEF Estimates of National Immunisation Coverage show that 90% of infants worldwide, or nearly 116 million children, received at least one dose of the diphtheria, tetanus and pertussis (DTP) vaccine in 2025. Around 85%, equivalent to 110 million children, completed the full three-dose schedule.<\/p>\n
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While both indicators increased by one percentage point from the previous year, global coverage remains below pre-COVID-19 pandemic levels and has largely stagnated since 2009.<\/p>\n
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The report estimates that 13.5 million children received no vaccines at all during their first year of life in 2025. Although this represents a reduction of almost 750 000 children compared with the previous year, WHO and UNICEF warned that progress is being undermined by rising numbers of children who begin vaccination programmes but fail to complete them.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Measles vaccination rates remain a particular concern. An estimated 7.3 million infants received their first DTP dose but dropped out before receiving a first measles vaccine. As a result, global measles coverage has stalled at 84% for the first dose and 77% for the second dose, well below the 95% coverage required to prevent outbreaks.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Consequently, 57 countries reported large or disruptive measles outbreaks during 2025.<\/p>\n
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UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell said progress made since the pandemic remains fragile. \u201cGovernments and health workers have helped global vaccination rates bounce back after dropping significantly during the COVID-19 pandemic. But millions of vulnerable children are still being left unprotected due to conflict, displacement, and poverty.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Russell added: \u201cWe must reach every child, and we must rebuild trust where it is fraying. No child should suffer from a disease that a simple vaccine can prevent.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Data from 195 countries show that 100 countries have maintained at least 90% coverage of three DTP doses since 2019. However, progress in expanding that group has been limited. While 30 countries improved coverage over the past six years, 65 countries are either stagnating or falling behind.<\/p>\n
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Conflict and fragile settings continue to account for a disproportionate share of unvaccinated children. More than half of all zero-dose children live in fragile, conflict-affected and vulnerable countries despite representing only about one-third of the global child population.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Among notable trends, Sudan recorded the largest increase in vaccination coverage globally during 2025, with DTP1 coverage rising by 35 percentage points and first-dose measles vaccination increasing by 22 points. In contrast, South Africa has experienced a 20-percentage-point decline in DTP1 coverage since 2019 and recorded a further decline during 2025.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
WHO Director-General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said vaccination remains one of the most effective public health interventions available. \u201cEvery child, whether born into wealth or poverty, peace or conflict, deserves the lifesaving protection that vaccines provide.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Tedros added: \u201cOur greatest security begins with ensuring that everyone, wherever they may live, is protected from deadly diseases that vaccines have the power to prevent.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
WHO and UNICEF warned that declining international health funding and weakening data systems could threaten future progress, calling on governments and partners to increase investment in immunisation programmes, strengthen disease surveillance and improve access to vaccines in conflict-affected communities.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
–WHO\/ChannelAfrica–<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":39794,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false},"news-type":[26],"class_list":["post-39793","news","type-news","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","news-type-general_news","entry"],"acf":{"short_description":"Global childhood vaccination rates improved slightly in 2025, but millions of children remain unprotected, leaving the world off track to meet key immunisation targets, according to new data from the World Health Organisation (WHO) and the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF).","published_date":"","news_description":"Global childhood vaccination rates improved slightly in 2025, but millions of children remain unprotected, leaving the world off track to meet key immunisation targets, according to new data from the World Health Organisation (WHO) and the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF).","form_embed":"","author":"","image_caption":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/39793","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/news"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/39793\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":39795,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/39793\/revisions\/39795"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/39794"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=39793"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"news-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news-type?post=39793"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}