TOKYO -- Many young children in Asia and elsewhere are missing out on routine vaccinations to protect them from measles and other diseases as their countries battle COVID-19 infections.
In 2021, the rates of vaccination against measles, polio and other infectious diseases among 1-year-olds all fell for a second year in a row after posting their first declines in about 20 years in 2020, according to Our World in Data, a statistics website run by the University of Oxford and other entities. Medical institutions in many countries diverted their resources to fight the pandemic, while parents avoided hospital visits because of restrictions on outings.
