The World Health Organization (WHO), UNICEF, Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and other global and national health partners have announced “The Big Catch-up” initiative. The campaign aims to boost childhood vaccination levels to at least pre-pandemic levels, and higher, as well as establish stronger primary health care services for essential immunization in the future.
The COVID-19 pandemic led to a decrease in essential immunization levels in over 100 countries, contributing to outbreaks of measles, diphtheria, polio, and yellow fever. The Big Catch-up is a targeted global effort to reverse the declines in childhood vaccination recorded in over 100 countries since the pandemic. Due to overburdened health services, closed clinics, disrupted imports and exports of medical supplies, and other challenges such as conflicts, climate crises, and vaccine hesitancy, over 25 million children missed at least one vaccination in 2021 alone.
The initiative focuses on the 20 countries where three-quarters of the children who missed vaccinations in 2021 live. While global coverage levels have declined, there have been bright spots of resilience, such as early reports indicating a strong recovery in essential immunization in India in 2022, and high coverage levels maintained during the pandemic in Uganda.
The Big Catch-up campaign aims to protect populations from vaccine-preventable outbreaks, save children’s lives, and strengthen national health systems. Partners are working with countries to strengthen health care workforces, improve health service delivery, build trust and demand for vaccines within communities, and address gaps and obstacles to restoring immunization.
In addition to catching up on childhood immunization, intensified efforts are needed to introduce the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine to adolescents to prevent cervical cancer, particularly in low- and middle-income countries where the burden is highest.
The WHO Director-General, Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, emphasized that “catching up is a top priority,” and that “no child should die of a vaccine-preventable disease.” UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell stated that “the longer we wait to reach and vaccinate these children, the more vulnerable they become and the greater the risk of more deadly disease outbreaks. Countries, global partners, and local communities must come together to strengthen services, build trust and save lives.”
Dr. Seth Berkley, CEO of Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, highlighted that “global health partners, working with governments and communities, must do everything we can to protect the life of every child,” while Dr. Chris Elias, President of Global Development at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, stressed that “we must double down to reach all children with the vaccines they need to live healthier lives and ensure that future generations live free of preventable diseases like polio.”