More than 200,000 people died from measles in 2019, an increase of 60% since the year 2000, according to a recent report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), that stated we’re going backward in our efforts for global elimination of the preventable disease.
The CDC said that coronavirus pandemic may cause further resurgence of measles in many areas because of the challenges healthcare workers are facing to ensure that children are vaccinated. ''Progress toward measles elimination during and after the pandemic will require strategies to integrate catch-up vaccination policies into essential immunization services to regain trust and confidence in the health system and rapid outbreak response,'' the CDC report said.
According to Axios, many countries put their vaccinations on pause because of COVID-19 and an estimated 94 million people may be at risk of missing their vaccines. Even in the U.S., a decline in pediatric care during the pandemic caused many children to miss their shots which could pose a threat to themselves and others. In New York City, for example, vaccinations plummeted 63% overall, and 91% for children over the age of 2 compared to a similar period last year, according to The New York Times.
Lynn C. Allison ✉
Lynn C. Allison, a Newsmax health reporter, is an award-winning medical journalist and author of more than 30 self-help books.
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