MANILA — Public perception of the importance of vaccines for children declined in the Philippines during the COVID-19 pandemic, UNICEF warned Tuesday in a new report on immunization.

According to the UN children's agency, confidence in childhood vaccines dropped up to 25 percent in the Philippines, among the steepest declines from dozens of countries.

"While the decline in perception doesn't necessarily equate to intent or actual uptake of the vaccine, it's really important to monitor because widespread and long-term vaccination confidence issues would hamper efforts to get children vaccinated," Kathleen Solis, social and behavior change specialist from UNICEF Philippines, said in a press briefing.

Only China, India, and Mexico showed positive change in vaccine confidence, UNICEF said.

Based on the UNICEF's latest global report, some 67 million children partially or fully missed routine vaccines globally between 2019 and 2021.

Of the 67 million children whose vaccinations were "severely disrupted," 48 million missed out on routine vaccines entirely, also known as "zero-dose," UNICEF said, flagging concerns about potential polio and measles outbreaks.

The Philippines has 1,048,000 zero dose children, the second highest in East Asia and the Pacific Region, and the fifth highest globally.

The top 5 regions with most zero-dose children include Calabarzon (146,160), Central Luzon (99,541), Western Visayas (96,774), Bicol (80,905) and the Bangsamoro (75,671).

Partial 2022 data showed coverage for Fully Immunized Child (FIC) and Measles Containing Vaccine 1 (MCV1) were at 57.35 percent and 68.94 percent, respectively. Some 95 percent is required to reach herd immunity.

• 67 million children missed out on vaccines because of COVID: UNICEF

INFLUENCING FACTORS

According to the Vaccine Confidence Project, people under 35 and women were more likely to report less confidence about vaccines for children after the start of the pandemic in most countries.

"However, this is not the case in the Philippines. Here, men are more likely than women to lose confidence on the importance of vaccines," Solis told reporters.

The following are the factors that influence vaccine confidence:

• What people hear, read and see
• Rumors and misinformation
• Experience in previous vaccination
• Trust in government
• Political environment/events

Among the key events related to immunization were the Dengvaxia controversy in 2017, measles outbreak in 2018, detection of first polio case in 2019 and the start of COVID-19 pandemic in 2020.

Dr. Carla Orozco, immunization specialist from UNICEF Philippines, said zero-dose children live in most marginalized communities, often have no regular health service, and are vulnerable to outbreaks.

She said children's lives would be lost and they would not reach their full potential over failure to immunize.

"Possibly diseases that have been eliminated or controlled, they come back like polio and others. And children could really die from vaccine-preventable disease," Orozco said.

UNICEF called on the Philippine government and partners to support "catch-up" vaccination efforts for those who missed their shots and fully restore immunization services to pre-pandemic levels to avert the looming child survival crisis.

— With a report from Agence France-Presse

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