The UNICEF has raised concern over a notable decline in the Filipinos’ confidence in children’s vaccines during the COVID-19 pandemic.
According to the UNICEF, public confidence in children’s vaccines dropped by 25 percent in the Philippines, described as among the “steepest declines” among dozens of countries.a
“While the decline in perception doesn’t necessarily equate to intentor actual uptake of the vaccine, it’s really important to monitor because widespread and long-term vaccination confidence issues would hamper efforts to get children vaccinated,” Kathleen Solis, social and behavior change specialist from UNICEF Philippines, said in a press briefing.
Conversely, China, India, and Mexico showed positive change in vaccine confidence, Solis said.
UNICEF’s latest global report showed that some 67 million children partially or fully missed routine vaccines globally between 2019 and 2021.
Of the 67 million children whose vaccinations were “severely disrupted,” 48 million missed out on routine vaccines entirely, also known as “zero-dose,” the UNICEF said, raising concerns about potential polio and measles outbreaks.
The UNICEF report also indicated that the Philippines has 1,048,000 zero dose children, the second highest in East Asia and the Pacific Region, and the fifth highest globally.
The top five regions with most zero-dose children include Calabarzon (146,160), Central Luzon (99,541), Western Visayas (96,774), Bicol (80,905) and the Bangsamoro (75,671).
Partial 2022 data showed coverage for Fully Immunized Child (FIC) and Measles Containing Vaccine 1 (MCV1) were at 57.35 percent and 68.94percent, respectively. Some 95 percent is required to reach herd immunity.
According to the Vaccine Confidence Project, people under 35 and women were more likely to report less confidence about vaccines for children after the start of the pandemic in most countries.
“However, this is not the case in the Philippines. Here, men are more likely than women to lose confidence on the importance of vaccines,” Solis told reporters.
Cited as factors that influence vaccine confidence were what people hear, read and see; rumors and misinformation; experience in previous vaccination; trust in government; and political environment and events.
Among the key events related to immunization were the Dengvaxia controversy in 2017, measles outbreak in 2018, detection of first polio case in 2019 and the start of COVID-19 pandemic in 2020.
Dr. Carla Orozco, immunization specialist from UNICEF Philippines, said zero-dose children live in most marginalized communities, often have no regular health service, and are vulnerable to outbreaks.
She said children’s lives would be lost and they would not reach their full potential over failure to immunize.
“Possibly diseases that have been eliminated or controlled, they come back like polio and others. And children could really die from vaccine-preventable disease,” Orozco said.
UNICEF called on the Philippine government and partners to support “catch-up” vaccination efforts for those who missed their shots and fully restore immunization services to pre-pandemic levels to avert the looming child survival crisis.