Sharp drop since 2024 in country regarded as a Latin American leader in childhood and adolescent immunisation
Argentina’s childhood and adolescent vaccination rates have collapsed to a historic lows according to a new analysis, prompting warnings that once-eliminated diseases may resurge.
The study of health ministry data by the Argentinian Paediatric Society (SAP) found that fewer than half of children aged five and six received several of their essential doses in 2024. All vaccines analysed were below the 95% level needed to reach herd immunity.
The data marks a dramatic reversal for a country long regarded as having one of Latin America’s most robust immunisation systems. While coverage has been slipping since 2015, public health specialists say the speed and scale of the drop in 2024 is without precedent – a collapse deepened by Javier Milei’s sweeping austerity programme, which has slashed the national health budget and strained the outreach networks that once underpinned Argentina’s vaccination successes.
“The decline is serious. Coverage continues to fall. It has never been this low,” said Dr Alejandra Gaiano, a paediatric infectious disease specialist at SAP. “The re-emergence of diseases that have been eliminated or controlled is the most serious issue and the greatest concern.”
