UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador Liam Neeson is leading UNICEF’s global immunization initiative with a global message thanking the scientists, parents, health workers and others who have been so critical in helping to immunize children over the last two decades. In a video released ahead of World Immunization Week, Neeson talks about how the efforts of scientists such as Jonas Salk, who developed the first vaccine against polio, and dedicated workers who fill vials at factories or deliver vaccine injections, have made it possible to save two to three million child lives each year. “Vaccines are a remarkable human success story. Over the last 75 years, billions of children have been vaccinated, thanks to scientists, to health workers, to volunteers. If you’ve ever been vaccinated, or vaccinated your children, then you are part of the arm-to-arm chain that keeps all humanity safe,” said Liam Neeson, UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador. “We live our lives free of worry about catching smallpox. Once a terrifying diagnosis, polio is no longer a threat in most of the world. The conversation about vaccines in recent years has lost sight of how much good they have done for each of us. We need to celebrate this. It is perhaps one of the biggest collective achievements in human history.” Every like, share, or comment on posts mentioning a UNICEF social media account and using the hashtag #longlifeforall from now until May 10 will unlock US $1 to UNICEF, from the United Nations Foundation’s Shot@Life campaign and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation – up to a total of US$10 million – to help ensure all children get the life-saving vaccines they need. Despite the successes, an alarming 23 million children missed out on vaccinations in 2020. This number can only be reduced through greater commitment to and investment in immunization services. UNICEF is the world’s leading provider of vaccines to children in over 100 countries, according to a message received here from New York. With Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance and partners UNICEF supplies vaccines to reach 45 per cent of the world’s children under five.  UNICEF also works with Governments in over 130 countries to strengthen national health and immunization programmes. “The last two years have taught us that a health care system that leaves some children exposed, is a health care system that leaves all children exposed,” said UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell.  “The best way for the world to recover from this pandemic – and to prepare for future health emergencies – is to invest in stronger health systems, and immunization and essential health services for every child.” World Immunization Week – celebrated every year in the last week of April – is spearheaded by the World Health Organization and brings together global partners to promote the use of vaccines to protect people of all ages against disease. The theme for this year is #LongLifeForAll, with ‘long life’ reflecting the importance of lifespan vaccinations. “We are in a race against time to restore the immunization services disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic and accelerate progress against all vaccine-preventable diseases,” said Gargee Ghosh, President of Global Policy and Advocacy at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. “That is why we are thrilled to work with UNICEF and other partners around the world to ensure children – especially those in the world’s poorest countries – have access to the vaccines they need to live a long, healthy life.” “UNICEF ensures that nearly half of the world’s children under five are ‘protected by love’ with lifesaving vaccines,” said Martha Rebour, Executive Director of Shot@Life, United Nations Foundation. “We are honored to support and promote their work during World Immunization Week and hope that others will join us in our advocacy for these critical global vaccine programs.”

Despite initial disruptions during the first months of the pandemic, Bangladesh restored routine immunization services to pre-Covid-19 levels in June 2020 and has steadily maintained this coverage, says UNICEF. In addition, the country successfully held a mass immunization caampaign for measles and rubella from December 2020 to January 2021 that reached 36 million children and overcame the additional challenges posed by Covid-19. Now with the third and to date largest spike of Covid-19 in Bangladesh, working towards maintaining this positive child immunization trend will be key, according to UNICEF. Also read: UNICEF hails immunization progress in Bangladesh amid pandemic While immunization services have started to recover from disruptions caused by Covid-19, millions of children remain vulnerable to deadly diseases, the World Health Organization (WHO), UNICEF and Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance have warned during World Immunization Week, highlighting the urgent need for a renewed global commitment to improving vaccination access and uptake. “Vaccines will help us end the Covid-19 pandemic but only if we ensure fair access for all countries, and build strong systems to deliver them,” said Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO’s Director-General. “And if we’re to avoid multiple outbreaks of life-threatening diseases like measles, yellow fever and diphtheria, we must ensure routine vaccination services are protected in every country in the world.” A WHO survey has found that despite progress when compared to the situation in 2020, more than one-third of respondent countries (37%) still report experiencing disruptions to their routine immunization services. Mass immunization campaigns are also disrupted. According to new data, 60 of these lifesaving campaigns are currently postponed in 50 countries, putting around 228 million people - mostly children - at risk for diseases such as measles, yellow fever and polio. Over half of the 50 affected countries are in Africa, highlighting protracted inequities in people’s access to critical immunization services. Campaigns to immunize against measles, which is one of the most contagious diseases and can result in large outbreaks wherever people are unvaccinated, are the most impacted. Measles campaigns account for 23 of the postponed campaigns, affecting an estimated 140 million people. Many have now been delayed for over a year. “Even before the pandemic, there were worrying signs that we were beginning to lose ground in the fight against preventable child illness, with 20 million children already missing out on critical vaccinations,” said Henrietta Fore, UNICEF Executive Director. “The pandemic has made a bad situation worse, causing millions of more children to go unimmunized. Now that vaccines are at the forefront of everyone’s minds, we must sustain this energy to help every child catch up on their measles, polio and other vaccines. We have no time to waste. Lost ground means lost lives.” As a result of gaps in vaccination coverage, serious measles outbreaks have recently been reported in countries including the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Pakistan and Yemen, while likely to occur elsewhere as growing numbers of children miss out on lifesaving vaccines, the agencies warn. Also read: Bangladesh children: The silent victims of the virus These outbreaks are happening in places already grappling with conflict situations as well as service disruptions due to ongoing response measures to Covid-19. The supply of vaccines and other equipment is also essential for child vaccinations. Due to disruptions at the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic, UNICEF delivered 2.01 billion vaccine doses in 2020, compared to 2.29 billion in 2019. “Millions of children across the world are likely to miss out on basic vaccines as the current pandemic threatens to unravel two decades of progress in routine immunization”, said Dr Berkley, CEO of Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance. “To support the recovery from Covid-19 and to fight future pandemics, we will need to ensure routine immunization is prioritized as we also focus on reaching children who do not receive any routine vaccines or zero-dose children. To do this, we need to work together – across development agencies, governments and civil society – to ensure that no child is left behind”. New global immunization strategy aims to save over 50 million livesTo help tackle these challenges and support the recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic, WHO UNICEF, Gavi and other partners today launched the Immunization Agenda 2030 (IA2030), an ambitious new global strategy to maximize the lifesaving impact of vaccines through stronger immunization systems. The Agenda focuses on vaccination throughout life, from infancy through to adolescence and older age. If fully implemented, it will avert an estimated 50 million deaths, according to WHO - 75% of them in low- and lower-middle-income countries. Targets to be achieved by 2030 include: Achieve 90% coverage for essential vaccines given in childhood and adolescence [i]Halve the number of children completely missing out on vaccines Complete 500 national or subnational introductions of new or under-utilized vaccines  - such as those for Covid-19, rotavirus, or human papillomavirus (HPV). To achieve IA2030’s ambitious goals, WHO, UNICEF, Gavi and partners are calling for bold action.World leaders and the global health and development community should make explicit commitments to IA2030 and invest in stronger immunization systems, with tailored approaches for fragile and conflict-affected countries. Also read: Child Daycare Centre Bill 2021 placed in Parliament Immunization is a vital element of an effective health care system, central to pandemic preparedness and response, and key to preventing the burden of multiple epidemics as societies reopen. All countries should develop and implement ambitious national immunization plans that align with the IA2030 framework, and increase investments to make immunization services accessible to all.Donors and governments should increase investments in vaccine research and innovation, development, and delivery focused on the needs of underserved populations. The pharmaceutical industry and scientists, working with governments and funders, should continue to accelerate vaccine R&D, ensure a continuous supply of affordable vaccines to meet global needs, and apply lessons from Covid-19 to other diseases.