UNICEF Reports: India among the Top 3 Countries with Highest Children's Vaccine Confidence

Data from the vaccine confidence project by United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF) disclosed that India, China, and Mexico are among the top three countries which hold firm on the importance of children’s vaccination. 

The organization emphasizes that immunization in children remains essential. However, vaccine confidence has declined in more than one-third of the nations, and more so since the inception of the COVID-19 pandemic. These countries include – Korea, Japan, Senegal, Ghana, and Papua New Guinea. Declining trust in vaccination and misleading data spread have been implicated in vaccine hesitancy.

These factors have precipitated the highest sustained decline in child immunization over the last three decades. The authorities have recognized the unfaltering social and political commitment of the Indian Government in deploying the most prominent vaccines drive during the pandemic and building confidence and strengthening systems for enabling the immunization of every child. 

Globally, 67 million infants and children were deprived of vaccination between 2019 and 2021; the vaccination coverage plummeted in 112 countries. The repercussions were evident – measles cases rose to higher than double last year, compared to 2021. Further, the incidence of paralysis in children due to polio escalated to 16% in 2022 – which amounted to an 8-fold rise compared to the previous three years.