A three-year effort to immunise children who missed routine vaccinations due to the Covid-19 crisis is on course to reach the 21 million target, the United Nations has said.
Issued on: 24/04/2026 - 09:24
The UN's World Health Organization and children's agency Unicef, along with the Gavi Vaccine Alliance, had launched "The Big Catch-Up" during the World Immunisation Week in 2023 as a response to the 2020 pandemic, which disrupted vaccination campaigns.
The initiative, focused on children aged 1 to 5 years and spanning 36 countries in Africa and Asia, ended in March this year.
About 12.3 million children who were previously "zero-dose" and had never received a vaccine were immunised against diseases such as diphtheria and polio, the agencies said. Before the drive, around 15 million children had not received a measles shot.
