While in 2013 coverage for 11 of the 13 vaccines in the national vaccination schedule reached 90%, the minimum recommended percentage, last year no vaccine reached that proportion.
The BCG vaccine, which protects against tuberculosis and is given to newborns, dropped from 91% coverage to 89%, according to the WHO/UNICEF National Immunization Coverage Estimates, 2023 Revision.
Measles vaccine coverage for the first dose was 89% in 2013 and dropped to 76% in 2023. This equates to approximately 485,000 children without this vaccine. The second dose reached 76% in 2013 and dropped to 74% last year.
The first dose of the DPT (diphtheria, pertussis and tetanus) vaccine had a coverage of 90% in 2013 and 89% in 2023; while the third dose did register an improvement in this period of time: it went from 83% to 85%.
“The number of children who did not receive DTP vaccination increased from 143,000 in 2022 to 222,000 in 2023,” the report states.
