Recovery of Routine Immunisation: Mapping External Financing Opportunities for Reaching Zero-Dose Children

The COVID-19 pandemic has precipitated large declines in childhood vaccination coverage and, consequently, substantial increases in the number of zero-dose children. To effectively respond to these declines, it is necessary to direct resources for recovery. We mapped active external financing for immunisation and primary healthcare in 20 countries with the highest numbers of zero-dose children to promote transparency and donor coordination. We found that countries have disparate access to external financing, with the two upper-middle-income countries (Brazil and Mexico) only having access to loans from the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development. Domestic resource mobilization is, therefore, key in these two countries, although fiscal space is likely constrained. Four additional countries (Angola, Indonesia, Philippines, and Vietnam) do not have allocations from Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance for Health Systems Strengthening, or Equity Accelerator Funding, but are eligible for support under Gavi's Middle-Income Countries Approach. Our methods, which focus on current donor financing, are novel and reveal substantial variations in access to external financing to support immunisation in high-burden countries. The available data differ considerably across financing mechanisms, making it difficult to synthesise the results across funding sources.

Automated summary

The COVID-19 pandemic has led to declines in childhood vaccination coverage and an increase in zero-dose children. Different countries have varying access to external financing, with some relying on domestic resources. There are substantial differences in external financing for immunisation in high-burden countries.