India's immunisation coverage at record high of 93%: WHO-UNICEF

The number of unvaccinated (zero dose vaccination) children in India reduced to 1.1 million in 2022 against 2.7 million the previous year as the country covered an additional 1.6 million children with lifesaving vaccination in a post-Covid-19 pandemic push, the just-released annual WHO and UNICEF estimates of national immunisation coverage (WUENIC) report indicate. The vaccine against diphtheria, tetanus, and pertussis (DTP) is used as the global marker for immunisation coverage.

The WUENIC data also reveals the coverage of India’s DTP vaccination was at a record level of 93% in 2022, higher than the pre-covid record of 91% coverage in 2019. The DTP first dose coverage was also at an all-time high of 95% in 2022, as compared to 88% in 2021, 87% in 2020, and a pre-pandemic record of 94% in 2019.

India’s renewed vaccination efforts also helped global immunisation services reach 4 million more children in 2022 compared to the previous year. Of the 20.5 million children who missed out on one or more doses of their DTP vaccines in 2022 globally, 14.3 million did not receive a single dose, so-called zero-dose children. While it is an improvement from the 18.1 million zero-dose children in 2021, it remains higher than the 12.9 million children in the pre-pandemic year, 2019.

“The progress in routine immunisation coverage brings the promise of a healthy life for children in India. It shows the dividends of the government's evidence-based catch-up campaigns and an effective primary health care and immunisation structure that helped India recover from the pandemic-induced backslides in 2020-2021. The Government of India’s commitment also contributed to a leap forward by further reducing the number of zero-dose children to 1.1 million. Efforts such as the fourth Intensified Mission Indradhanush (IMI) and India’s consistent provision of comprehensive Primary Health Care services are enabling this progress,” said Cynthia McCaffrey, UNICEF India Representative.

“Reaching every child is a real possibility as India continues to prioritise strategies, such as catch-up campaigns. UNICEF supports the government in its effort to reach missed children in vulnerable communities, the urban poor, migrants, and children living in hard-to-reach areas,” McCaffrey added.

Earlier UNICEF's State of the World's Children (SOWC) 2023 report acknowledged India among countries with the highest vaccine confidence. It is considered as a testament to India's successful social mobilisation and strategic communication in addressing vaccine hesitancy and raising confidence in the importance of immunisation.