W.H.O. Launches World Immunization Week to ‘Catch Up’ On Child Vaccinations

World Health Organization
World Health Organization/Twitter
Kurt Zindulka

The World Health Organization (W.H.O.) has launched World Immunization Week in order to conduct a “big catch-up” of child vaccinations for preventable diseases after falling behind during the Chinese coronavirus crisis.

According to data from the World Health Organization and UNICEF, some 25 million children did not receive at least one dose of vaccinations for preventable diseases such as diphtheria, tetanus, and pertussis in 2021. This was an increase of 2 million children compared to 2020 and six million over 2019 rates, representing the largest sustained decline in child immunizations in the past three decades.

Prior to the coronavirus, 86 per cent of the world’s children received at least one type of vaccine, however, this figure dropped to 81 per cent by the end of 2021, which the UN said equated to 67 million children missing at least one dose of a vaccine and five million more children who have never received any type of vaccination.

“More unvaccinated kids leads to more outbreaks, which could derail progress made against diseases like measles and polio — diseases that we have worked so hard to reduce,” the UN said.

The W.H.O. placed the blame on the Wuhan virus for the sharp decline in vaccination numbers among children, with healthcare systems throughout the world abandoning routine procedures in favour of focusing on the coronavirus. School closures due to government stay-at-home orders have also been highlighted as a contributing factor, given that many children globally are jabbed at their schools.

“We need to act now to catch-up the millions of children who missed out on vaccines during the pandemic, restore essential immunization coverage to at least 2019 levels and strengthen primary health care to deliver immunization,” the W.H.O. said in a statement.

However, the campaign has drawn some backlash on social media, with many questioning the role of the W.H.O. in undermining trust in public health institutions.

“You wouldn’t have to do this ‘big catch-up’ you evil bastards if you wouldn’t have conspired to force people to get vaccinated in the first place. You destroyed trust in public health, perhaps permanently… and now you are trying desperately to extend your unelected power everywhere in the world,” Canadian psychologist Dr Jordan Peterson said.

The World Health Organization has also previously come under criticism for failing to heed early warnings from Taiwan about the Wuhan virus and therefore wasted critical time that could have been used to try to contain the virus locally in China.

The W.H.O. also initially mimicked CCP propaganda in claiming that there was no human-to-human transmission of the virus, thereby further delaying the global response to the outbreak in Wuhan.

Follow Kurt Zindulka on Twitter here @KurtZindulka

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