Research highlights how misinformation, access gaps, and declining trust threaten to reverse progress in disease prevention, with some countries experiencing hesitancy levels above 35%. Experts warn that rebuilding confidence is essential to stopping the resurgence of diseases like measles and safeguarding global health.
Vaccine hesitancy is weakening immunisation programmes in many countries and helping to drive the return of diseases once thought to be under control, according to research highlighted in the Reviews in Medical Virology. The analysis, led by Indonesian researchers, found that confidence in vaccines has been undermined by misinformation, disrupted health services and persistent access gaps, with some countries reporting hesitation levels above 35% among adults.
The review drew on studies and reports published between 2000 and 2024, including material from the World Health Organization, UNICEF and Gavi, and examined how attitudes towards vaccination have changed alongside disease outbreaks. It found that the global coverage rate for the third dose of diphtheria, tetanus and pertussis vaccine fell from 86% in 2019 to 81% in 2021 before recovering only partially to 84% in 2023.
Those figures fit a wider pattern seen in official data. The World Health Organization said in 2024 that childhood immunisation stalled in 2023, leaving 2.7 million more children unvaccinated or under-vaccinated than before the pandemic in 2019. WHO also said 14.5 million children did not receive even a first dose of DTP vaccine, and more than half of unvaccinated children were living in fragile, conflict-affected or vulnerable settings.
The consequences are visible in the resurgence of measles, a virus that spreads easily when community protection drops even slightly. WHO data cited in the review showed measles vaccine coverage in Europe slipping from 95% in 2019 to 92% in 2022. Globally, 2021 saw about 9 million measles cases and 128,000 deaths, while the United States recorded 285 confirmed cases in 2024 after having declared measles eliminated in 2000.
Public health groups have long warned that vaccine hesitancy is now one of the main threats to routine immunisation. Gavi has said the COVID-19 pandemic worsened declining childhood vaccination in more than 100 countries, with supply problems, restricted access to services and distrust in vaccines all playing a part. The organisation noted that the World Health Organization listed vaccine hesitancy among its top 10 global health threats in 2019.
The Indonesian researchers argued that better vaccines alone will not solve the problem. Their review suggested that immunisation systems need to be paired with stronger public trust and faster responses to online misinformation, especially on social media platforms where anti-vaccine material can spread more quickly than fact-checks. The broader message from the report is that protecting global health now depends not only on scientific progress, but also on rebuilding confidence in the programmes that deliver vaccines to communities.
Disclaimer: This content is for informational purposes only and is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical judgment, advice, diagnosis, or treatment.
