Emergency impacting on routine vaccinations

PACIFIC– Thousands of children in the Pacific are in danger of missing out on routine vaccines because immunisation services have been disrupted by the Covid-19 pandemic.

The UN children’s agency UNICEF said some countries had seen immunisations programmes interrupted by lockdowns and travel restrictions.

This included vaccinations for polio and measles, diseases which had re-emerged in the Pacific over the past couple of years.

UNICEF said the gains made by mass campaigns over the past year could slip again if planning was not done to resume them as soon as possible.

It said it, along with the World Health Organisation, was working with Pacific countries to ensure adequate vaccination supplies were still delivered to countries, despite borders being shut.