Billions of people are at high risk of contracting infectious diseases like diphtheria, measles, and polio. This is due to the reason that most countries are following strict lockdown strategies. This has led to the immediate suspension of all National immunization programs. According to the authorities, this will help reduce the spread of COVID-19 by reducing human transmission.
Almost all countries have stopped mass polio campaigns. However, some countries totally postponed the measles campaigns as reported by UNICEF. Before the Coronavirus pandemic, regular immunizations against polio, measles, and other vaccines were already unavailable for around 20 million children globally. The current situation is very scary because people have no idea what disease can attack them. All of the health officials are busy tackling the Coronavirus, this leaves other equally dangerous infections at freedom to infect people.
Also Read: Coronavirus cure: Gilead study shows Remdesivir may be a potential drug to kill Coronavirus
Coronavirus leads to irregular Immunization
The actual death count due to COVID-19 may be less than the total global death count in the past few days. The other contagious death cases are not made public for us to see. In the United States, parents are canceling regular children’s checkups. This is harmful to the kids because they will miss out on their regular immunization.
Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, is a corporation that helps administer vaccines to all of the developing nations in the world. The Coronavirus pandemic is manipulating with all of the regular/routine immunization services in Gavi supported nations. This leaves populations vulnerable to a number of diseases.
Also Read: Is it right to test trial vaccine on volunteers? Medical authorities debate while cure is delay!
We have made US$ 40 million available to @UNICEF to secure personal protective equipment (PPE), diagnostic tests and other vital supplies on behalf of 58 low and lower middle-income countries as they respond to #COVID19. Read more here: https://t.co/Whs3UR6OLc
— Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance (@gavi) April 28, 2020
Almost 30 of the Gavi-supported nations have already begun the process of gathering funds for Coronavirus preparedness and help respond to the irregular immunization problems.
The statistics do not show a good look at the number of global death rates. During the Ebola outbreak in Africa, regular vaccinations were suspended. This led to killing almost 2.5 times of the people actually dying with Ebola. So, with the Coronavirus already killing around 230,000 globally, authorities hope to regularize immunizations as soon as possible.
Suryapratim Ray is an engineer, author, robotics hobbyist, and an active Quoran. Being a technical blogger, he covers the good, bad, and ugly of science on a regular basis at Sciencenews18. In addition to his passion for writing, he’s equally keen on learning classical music.