WHO and Unicef: Around 566,000 Children in Europe Without Full Vaccination Protection

The WHO European Region comprises 53 countries, including Turkey, Turkmenistan, and Israel. Just over half of the unvaccinated children live in four countries: Kazakhstan, Turkey, the United Kingdom, and Azerbaijan. Across the entire region, the vaccination rate against diphtheria, tetanus, and whooping cough – these being the first vaccinations that new arrivals among us receive – stood at 94 percent, the same as the previous year.

For Germany, WHO and Unicef put the number of completely unvaccinated children at 21,000. Around 92 percent of children received the first dose of the measles vaccine – also unchanged compared to the previous year. Overall, the organizations assess vaccination rates against the classic childhood diseases as largely stable.

HPV Vaccination in Germany Below WHO Target

In Germany, the WHO sees a particular need for improvement when it comes to HPV vaccination against papillomaviruses. 55 percent of girls are fully vaccinated against it. That is indeed more than the regional average (41 percent), but the WHO only gives good marks from a vaccination rate of at least 90 percent. Germany therefore ranks above average for HPV, but well below the threshold that the WHO considers sufficient.

Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General of the WHO, had already emphasized the fundamental importance of vaccinations last year: "Impfstoffe haben in den letzten fünf Jahrzehnten mehr als 150 Millionen Menschenleben gerettet", sagte er. Booster vaccinations do tend to get forgotten occasionally, adds the report's author – she herself intends to take a look at her own vaccination record right away.

The Importance of Vaccinations and a Look at the Vaccination Record

WHO and Unicef interpret the slight decline in unvaccinated children as a positive signal, but continue to see significant room for catch-up. Alongside the classic childhood vaccinations, their attention is focused primarily on HPV vaccination, which can protect against cervical cancer and other types of cancer. An increase in the rates is necessary in order to curb the spread of vaccine-preventable diseases over the long term.

The fact that the number of children without vaccination protection in the region's 53 countries has fallen by 43,000 compared to 2024 is regarded by the organizations as a trend in the right direction – although the absolute figure of 566,000 unprotected children remains alarming. The WHO emphasizes that education, easier access to vaccines, and closing gaps in care in the affected countries are crucial to further increasing vaccination rates.

The report also underscores that past successes cannot be taken for granted. As soon as vaccination rates decline, diseases that were considered nearly eradicated can reappear. In this context, the WHO regularly points to measles outbreaks in several European countries that have been linked to vaccination gaps.