How WHO is supporting ongoing vaccination efforts during the COVID-19 pandemic

As COVID-19 continues to spread around the world, people in all countries are being encouraged to take precautions to prevent transmission, including in many countries by staying at home and physical distancing. But a pandemic does not erase other diseases and their impact. While many services, including some health services, are being scaled back, the risk of further outbreaks of infectious diseases grows. The healthcare disruptions caused by COVID-19 could have a devastating impact on child mortality. In 2020, 80 million children under one year of age live in a country that has reported some kind of disturbance to the immunization program largely due to limited access to health centers, low availability of PPE for healthcare workers, and fear of contracting COVID-19. WHO is helping countries as they balance the threat of COVID-19 with the threat of vaccine-preventable disease outbreaks and deaths that could result. With global and regional guidance, as...