Vaccination facts

Today’s vaccines can protect against 26 potentially deadly infections. Of these, 11 are considered essential childhood vaccines that should be given according to a defined schedule during routine primary care, starting from infancy and extending into early childhood. Others, such as the meningitis and cholera vaccines, are used in high-risk regions to protect people of all ages against outbreak diseases.

As new vaccines are developed for other deadly childhood diseases, it’s crucial to add them into the basic vaccine package. But there are many challenges in getting these life-saving vaccines to all children that need them.

Routine childhood vaccination

Traditionally, the routine immunizations recommended by the World Health Organization were: diphtheria, pertussis (whooping cough), tetanus, tuberculosis, measles, and polio. The past decade has seen new vaccines against hepatitis B, haemophilus influenza type B, meningitis, pneumonia, and diarrhea added to the recommended package.

Global health organizations like UNICEF and Gavi have greatly boosted these programs. But some of the world’s most vulnerable children are not sharing in these gains—in 2016, approximately 19.5 million didn’t receive any routine immunizations at all. Around 60 percent of these children live in 10 countries: Angola, Brazil, Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, India, Indonesia, Iraq, Nigeria, Pakistan, and South Africa.

Barriers to vaccination