Big Catch-Up delivers over 100 million childhood vaccines to 18.3 million children
The Story
A multi-year global initiative called The Big Catch-Up has delivered over 100 million vaccine doses to an estimated 18.3 million children aged 1 to 5 across 36 countries, according to Gavi, WHO, and UNICEF. The effort, launched during World Immunization Week 2023 and concluded in March 2026, aimed to address vaccination declines driven by the COVID-19 pandemic. Agencies warn that routine immunization gaps remain a challenge.
Key Facts
- The Big Catch-Up reached an estimated 18.3 million children between 2023 and 2025, delivering over 100 million vaccine doses.
- Of those reached, approximately 12.3 million were “zero-dose children” who had not previously received any vaccines.
- An estimated 15 million of the children reached had never received a measles vaccine.
- The initiative provided 23 million doses of inactivated polio vaccine (IPV) to un- and under-vaccinated children.
- Programme implementation concluded on 31 March 2026, and the initiative is forecast to meet its target of reaching at least 21 million un- and under-immunized children.
- The 36 participating countries are in Africa and Asia and currently account for 60% of all zero-dose children worldwide.
- Twelve countries reported reaching more than 60% of zero-dose children under age 5 who had missed DTP1: Burkina Faso, Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Madagascar, Mauritania, Niger, Pakistan, Somalia, Togo, United Republic of Tanzania, and Zambia.
- In Ethiopia, more than 2.5 million previously zero-dose children received DTP1, along with nearly 5 million doses of IPV and over 4 million doses of measles vaccine.
- In Nigeria, 2 million previously zero-dose children received DTP1, and 3.4 million doses of IPV were administered.
Conflicting Reports
No conflicting reports identified in the source article.
Still Unclear
No open questions identified in the source article.
Misconceptions
No widespread misconceptions addressed in the source article.
Key Figures
- Dr Sania Nishtar, CEO of Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance
- Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General of the World Health Organization
- Catherine Russell, UNICEF Executive Director
Sources: World Health Organization
