Vaccinations create ‘umbrella of immunity’ against global measles outbreaks, says UNICEF

According to UNICEF, widening pockets of unvaccinated children have created a pathway to the measles outbreaks currently spreading around the world. “The ground for the global measles outbreaks we are witnessing today was laid years ago,” said Henrietta Fore, UNICEF Executive Director. During the first three months of 2019, more than 110,000 measles cases were reported worldwide, representing a near 300 percent jump from the same period last year. And in 2017, measles cost some 110,000 people, mostly children, their lives, representing a 22 percent increase from the previous year. UNICEF explained that although two doses of the measles vaccine are “essential” to protect children from the disease, a lack of access, poor health systems, complacency, and in some cases a fear of vaccines, led to a drop in global coverage to only 85 per cent in 2017, which has remained relatively constant over the last decade. However, at 67 percent, global coverage for...