Vaccination rates are slipping around the world. Canada isn't immune, says new study

Jennifer Yoon · CBC News

· Posted: Jun 26, 2025 4:00 AM EDT | Last Updated: 4 minutes ago

After decades of progress, puerility vaccination rates person started stalling oregon falling astir the satellite successful caller years, and Canada is not immune to the trend, suggests a new study from The Lancet.

The survey estimated the sum of 11 puerility vaccines successful 204 countries and territories betwixt 1980 and 2023, analyzing implicit 1,000 information sources from astir the world.

It recovered that though globally determination were immense strides made successful vaccine sum for children during that period (vaccine sum against diseases similar measles, polio and pertussis much than doubled), advancement started stalling, adjacent earlier the COVID-19 pandemic.

"Particularly successful the Americas and high-income countries, betwixt 2010 and 2019, measles vaccine sum declined successful astir fractional the countries," said Dr. Jonathan Mosser, an adjunct prof of wellness metric sciences astatine the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation astatine the University of Washington and 1 of the co-authors of the study.

The pandemic dealt a dense stroke to vaccination rates, with much than 15 million children globally missing regular shots betwixt 2020 and 2023, Mosser said.

The satellite ne'er afloat rebounded to pre-pandemic puerility vaccination levels, helium said. 

"The pandemic reversed decades of advancement that we had successful reducing the fig of zero-dose children, those children that person ne'er received 1 of these cardinal puerility vaccines."

Worsening vaccine inequalities

The pandemic had an outsized interaction connected regions that already had debased vaccine sum earlier COVID-19, Mosser said. 

Countries in sub-Saharan Africa saw the top disruption to vaccine coverage: 5 to 7 cardinal children successful the portion are estimated to person missed vaccines protecting them against diseases similar polio, pneumococcal illness and rotavirus. 

"We person challenges related to truly long-standing planetary inequalities and vaccination sum with galore low- and middle-income countries having importantly little sum than high-income countries," Mosser said. 

Why vaccination rates person started stalling varies from state to country, helium added.

WATCH | Misinformation mostly driving vaccination decline: study:

"In immoderate places astir the world, they're related to geopolitical instability, they're related to proviso concatenation issues. In galore high-income countries, they're related to vaccine misinformation and hesitancy," helium said. 

Convincing those who won't get vaccinated

In Canada, Mosser said, vaccine sum for most shots has dropped compared to the aboriginal 2000s. Uptake for immoderate vaccines person fallen implicit time, similar the changeable that protects against diphtheria, tetanus and pertussis. Recently there's been immoderate increases successful uptake for different jabs – similar the archetypal dose of the measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine — but the humble summation isn't capable to forestall outbreaks.

For instance, Mosser said, vaccination rates for measles successful 2023 — 92 per cent for 1 dose of the MMR and 79 per cent for 2 doses of the MMR — are good beneath the threshold needed for herd immunity, which is 95 per cent.

In high-income countries similar Canada, vaccine misinformation and hesitancy have seriously undermined assurance successful vaccines and contributed to little vaccination coverage, said Mosser.

Another contributing origin could beryllium disparities successful coverage, on divides similar socioeconomic status, location, contention oregon religion, helium added.

"New strategies are needed to promote radical to perceive to trusted and reliable voices, including their health-care providers, astir vaccination."

WATCH | Why ending the measles outbreak volition beryllium challenging:

In a statement, the Public Health Agency of Canada said it is researching the assorted and often analyzable reasons driving vaccine hesitancy crossed Canada. The bureau says it besides is processing evidence-based consciousness campaigns and resources to enactment health-care providers encountering vaccine hesitancy. 

'A travelling world'

As nationalist wellness authorities effort to person those successful Canada who won't get vaccinated, it's besides important to enactment and money vaccination campaigns astir the world, accidental experts successful Canada.

"The satellite is simply a travelling world," said Dr. Mahli Brindamour, a pediatrician astatine Jim Pattison Children's Hospital successful Saskatoon.

"If we don't person bully vaccine sum successful sub-Saharan Africa, that touches Canada arsenic well," said Brindamour, who besides practices astatine REACH clinic, a multidisciplinary exile clinic.

She says she's seen patients, often from regions facing conflict, wherever it's hard to entree vaccines. But they're astir ever anxious to get the shot, if 1 is needed and offered. 

"We don't spot a batch of vaccine hesitancy," she said, successful notation to exile populations.

Dr. Gabriel Fabreau, a wide interior medicine specializer successful Calgary, who besides works with newcomer populations, has besides observed that his patients don't hesitate to get childhood vaccinations.

He says Canada should marque it easier for these populations to drawback up connected immoderate puerility vaccines they've missed.

"Health systems enactment champion if we marque regular and casual things that we cognize are important," helium said. 

Ramping up pre-departure vaccination programs, facilitating aesculapian and vaccine record-sharing crossed borders and offering vaccines upon accomplishment are casual ways to code this complex problem, helium added.