The Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Immunization Campaigns and Programs: A Systematic Review.

ABSTRACT: The COVID-19 pandemic has had an impact on health service delivery, including immunization programs, and this review assesses the impact on vaccine coverage across the globe and identifies the potential underlying factors. A systematic search strategy was employed on PubMed, Embase, MedRxiv, BioRxiv, and WHO COVID-19 databases from December 2019 till 15 September 2020. Two review authors independently assessed studies for inclusion, assessed quality, and extracted the data (PROSPERO registration #CRD42020182363). A total of 17 observational studies were included. The findings suggest that there was a reduction in the vaccination coverage and decline in total number of vaccines administered, which led to children missing out on their vaccine doses. An approximately fourfold increase was als

SUBMITTER: Lassi ZS 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7908591 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature