A new report released by the World Health Organisation (WHO) and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has revealed that over 14 million children worldwide still lack access to routine immunisation, having not received a single dose of any vaccine.
According to the report, which was published on Monday, approximately 14.3 million children were identified as “zero-dose” in 2024. This marks an increase of 1.4 million compared to 2019 the baseline year for tracking global progress and surpasses the 2024 target by four million, undermining efforts to achieve the goals set under the Immunisation Agenda 2030.
While global vaccination coverage has shown some improvement, experts warn that the data highlights widening disparities in access, particularly in regions affected by conflict and instability.
In Nigeria, although routine immunisation rates have seen modest progress in recent years, serious gaps remain. UNICEF estimates that around 2.1 million children under the age of one representing roughly 24 per cent have not received any routine vaccines, leaving them completely unprotected.
