In Niger, hospitals are not equipped to handle vaccinations. As the world battles the coronavirus, children are not receiving routine vaccinations. Many children may die from diseases that medicine has long since learned to control. The reason is the suspension of routine vaccinations due to the Covid-19 epidemic. That’s according to the United Nations Children’s Fund, the Albert Sabin Vaccine Institute and the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization (GAVI).
The number of vaccinations is expected to remain the same: 68 countries have fully or partially suspended vaccination. At least 80 million children are not immunized on time. The number of offers should remain the same: 34.8 million live in Southeast Asia and 22.9 million in Africa. Some experts believe that in the long run, the negative consequences may outweigh the risk of infection for infants and parents in medical settings. “Measles, diphtheria and cholera are on the rise,” says UNICEF Executive Director Henrietta Fore. “These diseases were thought to be largely defeated on a global scale, but now medical progress may be lost.”
In Nepal, children are still brought in for vaccinations. We explain quickly, simply, and clearly what happened, why it matters, and what will happen next. The number of episodes should not be changed. End of story. Podcast Advertising. Mathematical modeling by specialists at Johns Hopkins University predicts a global increase in child mortality of six thousand cases per day. Parents’ fear of violating the quarantine, a shortage of medical personnel busy fighting Covid-19, and problems getting vaccines to clinics are hampering vaccinations. The problem is particularly severe in developing countries. In Nepal and Cambodia, the number of measles cases among children has risen sharply, and in Ethiopia, cholera and yellow fever have increased. “We have reason to fear a devastating counter-attack by these diseases and a rise in child mortality to levels not seen in living memory,” says Kate O’Brien, Head of WHO’s Department of Vaccines and Immunization.
The clinic in Niger is almost empty. As of June 4, 961 cases of infection and 65 deaths from Covid-19 have been reported in the poor West African country. At the same time, poliomyelitis, which causes loss of the ability to walk and sometimes death, is making a comeback. Four new cases have been reported since February. Zeynab Takhir, wearing a pink headscarf and a blue mask, waits in line, rocking her infant daughter, Fadila. “I was so scared to come here because of the coronavirus!” – She says. But the doctors said that this vaccination was also very important and advised to “wash your hands all the time”.
Planned vaccination of adults has been suspended indefinitely, but the decision on whether to vaccinate children is left to the discretion of the authorities of the federal subjects, said Deputy Health Minister Oleg Gridnev. On March 25, Rospotrebnadzor sent a letter to the regions under the signature of the agency’s head, Anna Popova, recommending that vaccinations not be carried out “until the epidemiological situation has stabilized.” However, the letter did not mention children, but focused on vaccination of adults. On April 16, the Russian Ministry of Health sent a letter to the regions: “We consider it appropriate to recommend regional operational headquarters to make decisions on temporary suspension of planned childhood immunizations based on the epidemiological situation in a specific subject of the Russian Federation.” However, a week later, the department issued a new advisory stating: “Routine immunization of healthy and uninfected children should not be interrupted!” – and explained who should be vaccinated first and what precautions should be taken.
Newborns are vaccinated against viral hepatitis and tuberculosis at the maternity hospital. Vaccinations against measles, rubella, mumps, diphtheria, poliomyelitis, and whooping cough, which are administered in the first two years of life with subsequent booster shots according to the schedule, require separate visits to the health care facility. The WHO Regional Office for Europe’s “Guide to Routine Immunization during the Covid-19 Pandemic” recommends carrying out planned vaccinations “as long as COVID-19 response measures allow” and avoiding mass vaccination campaigns until the Covid-19 situation is resolved, while ensuring that newborns are vaccinated in maternity hospitals. The document provides detailed recommendations on which vaccinations to prioritize and how to protect against coronavirus. WHO does not recommend that vaccination be stopped completely under any scenario.
The Russian medical community strongly advocates vaccination. The Russian Pediatric Union and the National Association for Infection Control in Emotional Expressions have declared the inadmissibility of even a temporary cancellation of their offers. Natalia Tkachenko, the head of the department of child and family vaccination at the Scientific-Medical Center for Child Health of the Russian Ministry of Health, said in an interview with Rossiyskaya Gazeta that “even during the corona virus epidemic, vaccination must be carried out”, otherwise “in 3-6 months we will have outbreaks of other diseases”. Nikolay Smirnov, chief physician of the children’s clinic “Fantasy”, and Marina Demidova, director of the children’s clinic “DocDeti” (Moscow), told “Meduza” that there is no ban on vaccinating children in Moscow, and parents of young patients have no problems obtaining digital passports to visit them.