A new study, published Wednesday, has found that vaccination rates for measles fell throughout the pandemic, having dropped to the lowest they have been in more than a decade.
The study, published by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, found that while global vaccination rates improved from 2000 to 2021, the COVID-19 pandemic caused a setback in the fight to eliminate the disease.
The data in the study came from 194 World Health Organization member states from six regions that have made the effort to eradicate measles.
“All WHO regions remain committed to measles elimination; however, no region has achieved and sustained elimination targets,” the researchers wrote.
The global coverage with the first dose of the measles vaccine increased from 72% in 2000 to 86% in 2019 as the world took significant steps to eradicate the disease.
However, in 2020, the rate dropped by 3% and fell another 2% in 2021, according to the study. The researchers say this is the lowest coverage rate for the vaccine since 2008.
In real-world numbers, 24.7 million infants didn’t receive their first dose of the vaccine in 2021, 2.4 million children more than the year prior.
The number of deaths caused by measles also decreased significantly from 2000 to 2021, from 761,000 to 128,000. The study found that “an estimated 56 million measles deaths were averted by vaccination.”
Now, to keep deaths declining, researchers urge WHO nations to continue their efforts in eliminating the disease.
“To regain progress and achieve regional measles elimination targets during and after the COVID-19 pandemic, accelerating targeted efforts is necessary to reach all children with 2 MCV doses while implementing robust surveillance and identifying and closing immunity gaps to prevent cases and outbreaks,” the researchers wrote.
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