UNICEF and WHO report: Over 13 million children unvaccinated in 2025

According to a new report released by the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) and the World Health Organization (WHO), 13.5 million children worldwide received no vaccine doses in 2025. While these children were left vulnerable to vaccine-preventable diseases, 6.2 million children only received partial protection. Although these figures indicate a slight decrease compared to the previous year, it is noted that the world is far from reaching global targets.

The Global Immunization Agenda (GIDA) aimed to reduce the 2019 figure of 12.8 million to 6.4 million by 2030 and halve the number of "zero-dose" children. However, the 13.5 million figure reached in mid-2025 is considerably higher than both the 2019 level and the projected average of 9.6 million for this year. Nine countries - Nigeria, Yemen, Democratic Republic of the Congo, India, Indonesia, Ethiopia, Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Angola - account for more than half of the unvaccinated children.

While measles vaccinations are trying to reach 2019 levels, a 1-year increase from 28% to 31% was recorded in human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine coverage. WHO officials acknowledge that progress in recent years has been limited, but they emphasize that the past 25 years have yielded massive gains in the field of global vaccination. Despite this, 74 countries failed to reduce the number of unvaccinated children compared to 2019.