More than half a million children did not receive a vaccination last year. Significantly more than before Corona. The pandemic has “reinforced the negative trend,” says the DAK.
During the corona pandemic, significantly fewer children and adolescents were vaccinated against other contagious diseases in Germany. Last year, the proportion of children who received at least one vaccination fell by eleven percent compared to 2019, according to the health insurance company DAK in Hamburg. Extrapolated to the population, around 680,000 fewer girls and boys were vaccinated.
“We have been observing a decline in vaccination rates for children and adolescents for some time. This negative trend has intensified during the corona pandemic,” said Andreas Storm, CEO of DAK-Gesundheit. In view of the number of vaccinations, there is an acute need for action. “Otherwise, the health of many young people will suddenly be threatened again by diseases that were thought to be almost eradicated.”
The rate of primary vaccinations in the quadruple vaccination against diphtheria, whooping cough, tetanus and polio fell particularly sharply at 31 percent. Taking into account all vaccine doses and the booster vaccinations, the rate for this quadruple vaccination decreased by 23 percent. This means that around 166,000 fewer children and adolescents were vaccinated in 2021.
200,000 or 19 percent fewer children and adolescents were vaccinated against meningococcal C, which can cause meningitis or sepsis, than in the year before the pandemic. The vaccination figures for HPV vaccinations for cancer prevention also fell by 13 percent. The vaccination rate for the triple vaccination against measles, mumps and rubella also fell by 18 percent last year.
At the same time, however, the quadruple vaccination against measles, mumps, rubella and chickenpox increased by 18 percent, so that the decline was offset. The numbers for the first vaccination against pneumococci also remained largely constant during the pandemic. Accounting data from around 782,000 children and young people aged up to 17 who are insured with DAK-Gesundheit were evaluated.