World Immunization Week: Theme 2022, History, Significance and Immunization Coverage – Key Facts

World Immunization Week is seen by the World Health Organization (WHO) in the last week of April (24 to 30 April). The week features the role of immunizations to protect people and communities from diseases. The World Health Organization (WHO) celebrates the last week of each April as World Immunization Week, with a plan to feature and promote the use of vaccines to protect individuals of any age against infections. This year, the World Immunization Week will be marked with a theme of ‘Long Life for All – In pursuit of a long life well lived’ and the mission focuses on spreading the message that vaccination is one of the world’s best and cost-effective health interventions and it helps save a great many lives every year.

WHO works with countries across the globe to raise awareness about the worth of vaccines and immunization and guarantees that governments get the necessary guidance and technical help to implement high-quality immunization programs. A definitive goal of World Immunization Week is for additional individuals – and their communities – to be protected from vaccine-preventable diseases.

This special week likewise plans to draw attention to the aggregate measures and activities that are expected to battle vaccine aversion.

During this week, WHO works with countries to raise awareness of the value of vaccines and immunization. The association likewise guarantees that governments set all fundamental guidance and technical support to carry out high-quality immunization programs.

World Immunization Week 2022 Theme:

This year the theme for World Immunization Week is ‘Long Life for All’. The purpose of this theme is to feature how vaccines make it workable for individuals to protect friends and family and carry on with a long, healthy life.

World Immunization Week is supported by WHO and different leading partners that incorporate UNICEF, Gavi, The Vaccine Alliance, and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation among others.

Significance of World Immunization Week amid Covid-19:

Vaccination saves a large number of lives every year. Notwithstanding the success of different immunization programs across the globe, almost 20 million children all over the world miss out on life-saving immunizations every year, as per UNICEF.

The WHO stays focused on vaccinating individuals against the novel Covid as well as guaranteeing fair distribution of vaccines around the world. The global body likewise expects to guarantee that other immunization programs don’t fall to the wayside in the pandemic.

For individuals, vaccinating against COVID-19 remaining parts of most extreme significance to guarantee that the transmission and impacts of the disease stay muted.

Moreover, World Immunization Week additionally plans to feature how vaccination programs against diseases, such as measles keep on being significant all around the globe.

As the world denotes this week, here’s a fast lowdown on why the day holds such a lot of significance:

Immunization Coverage – Key Facts

WHO states that while immunization is one of the best public health interventions, coverage has leveled throughout the last decade. In 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic has prompted significant backsliding in childhood vaccinations. Highlighting the global facts, WHO said:

– Global coverage dropped from 86% in 2019 to 83% in 2020
– An expected 23 million children under the age of one year didn’t get essential vaccines, which is the highest number starting around 2009
– In 2020, the number of totally unvaccinated children expanded by 3.4 million
– Just 19 vaccine presentations were accounted for in 2020, less than half of any year in the beyond two decades.

WHO states that the reason for this disturbance of services is predominantly the COVID-19 pandemic. It adds, “With many resources and personnel diverted to support the COVID-19 response, there have been significant disruptions to immunization service provision in many parts of the world.”