This date, under the slogan ¨The Great Catch-Up¨, is to praise the necessary collective action and promote the use of vaccines to protect people from diseases.

According to WHO, immunization is the foundation of the primary health care system and also an indisputable human right. Yet large part of the population worldwide has no access to vaccination.

In 2019 and 2021, as many as 67 million children were left totally or partially unvaccinated, so immunization coverage in 112 countries decreased, too worrying figures.

This is the largest sustained setback in childhood immunization in 30 years, hence the need for pressing action to catch up on missed doses along the way and continue preventing outbreaks of deadly diseases, WHO and UNICEF reported.

“Redoubling the commitment, increasing funding for immunization and preventing routine immunization from becoming another casualty of the pandemic,” were issues specialists noted as key factors to the process.

Both UNICEF and WHO agreed that the SARS-CoV-2 experience caused a huge pressure on health systems, mainly due to the diversion of resources dedicated to immunization towards vaccination against Covid-19, shortage of health personnel and the lockdowns at home.

This scenario has triggered a decline in vaccination against measles, diphtheria, polio and other diseases, so UN agencies agreed upon the emergency of creating solid immunization systems to guarantee everyone to be protected not only from Covid-19, but also from other diseases.

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