Shri Rajesh Bhushan, Secretary, Ministry of Health & Family Welfare, Government of India; Members of the South-East Asia Region Immunization Technical Advisory Group, Chairpersons and Representatives of National Immunization Technical Advisory Groups from Member States, technical experts, programme managers, representatives of partner agencies, ladies and gentlemen,
Good afternoon and welcome to this twelfth meeting of the South-East Asia Region Immunization Technical Advisory Group (ITAG) – the third such meeting since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.
I will deliver my remarks in three parts, each part corresponding to your broad objectives:
First, the COVID-19 response and vaccination roll-out;
Second, the status of routine immunization and the South-East Asia Regional Vaccine Action Plan;
And third, the way forward to update the Regional Vaccine Action Plan, in line with World Health Assembly and Regional Committee endorsements, and in pursuit of the Immunization Agenda 2030 targets.
As of 6 August, almost 201 million cases of COVID-19 have been confirmed globally and more than 4.2 million deaths.
The South-East Asia Region is the world’s third most affected region, with more than 38 million cases and just over 585 000 deaths.
Since last we met, an array of safe and effective vaccines has been developed globally.
WHO has listed 11 vaccine products for emergency use. We continue to assess more.
Countries in the Region and across the world are administering vaccines on the basis of the WHO-listed vaccines for emergency use, in addition to the emergency use authorization provided by national regulatory agencies.
Ten of the Region’s 11 Member States have introduced COVID-19 vaccines to respond to the pandemic.
As of 8 August, more than 646 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines have been administered in the Region. Twenty-four percent of people have received at least one dose and 7.5% are fully immunized.
Variability in coverage between countries that have initiated vaccination ranges from 70.7% to 3.4% for the first dose and 62.7% to 2.7% for the second dose.
All countries in the Region have designed national vaccine deployment plans with a focus on priority groups, including health care and frontline workers, and elderly populations.
Limited availability and inequitable access to vaccines continue to be a challenge.
Globally, high-income and upper-middle-income countries have achieved a much higher percentage coverage compared with lower-middle-income and low-income countries.
This is because high-income countries have more vaccines.
We now face a two-track pandemic, defined by each country’s access or lack thereof to vaccines.
Efforts to increase equitable access to vaccine supplies continue to be initiated, including through the removal of barriers to the scale up of manufacturing, the waiving of intellectual property rights, and the global sharing of technologies and know-how.
I am aware of how closely all partners and countries in the Region are working to ensure a coordinated vaccine roll-out and to scale-up access to vaccines. I thank you for your efforts.
We aim to vaccinate at least 10% of the population of every country by September, at least 40% by the end of the year, and 70% globally by the middle of next year. These are the milestones that together we must reach to control the pandemic.
Our message to all countries and partners remains steadfast: Vaccine equity is not only the right thing to do, but also the most efficient way forward. The global failure to share vaccines equitably is fuelling the pandemic and will continue to for as long as inequities persist.
Supplies of COVID-19 vaccines are expected to increase over the coming months. It is imperative that countries are prepared to absorb and utilize them.
Systems must be in place to store, distribute and administer vaccines.
Strategies must be in place to increase vaccine acceptance.
In the months ahead, achieving high vaccination coverage – especially among those at highest risk – will be critical, alongside continued implementation of public health and social measures.
I now turn to routine immunization and the South-East Asia Regional Vaccine Action Plan, which has in recent years facilitated tremendous Region-wide progress towards our immunization goals.
Since 2014 the Region has remained polio-free. Since 2016 it has maintained maternal and neonatal tetanus elimination.
Five countries have eliminated measles, two of which have eliminated rubella.
Four countries have achieved hepatitis B control through immunization.
Since 2010 all countries have introduced between three and five new or underutilized vaccines.
By 2019, immunization coverage in the Region had reached a remarkable 91%, up from 83% in 2010.
The number of unvaccinated or partially vaccinated children had declined to 3.3 million compared with 8.2 million in 2009.
You are acutely aware: The pandemic puts these and other achievements at risk.
We know that in 2020 the global coverage of antigens under routine immunization significantly declined, increasing immunity gaps, and with them, vulnerabilities to vaccine-preventable diseases.
Seven of the Region’s 11 countries reported a decline in DPT3 coverage. In 2020, DPT3 coverage in the Region averaged 85%.
In all countries of the Region, national commitment to sustain essential routine immunization has remained strong, but increased efforts are required at the subnational level to translate that commitment into on-the-ground results.
To reach the unreached and underserved, countries must continue to refine strategic, operational and policy guidelines for reviving immunization and surveillance activities, towards which this ITAG can contribute.
As you embark on this twelfth ITAG meeting, update the Regional Vaccine Action Plan, and chart the path forward, towards our regional and global targets, that message – the importance of prioritizing equity – is one that I want to focus on.
In the South-East Asia Region and across the world, COVID-19 has disproportionately impacted the most vulnerable and those at risk of being left behind.
It has exploited and exacerbated social and economic inequities, and negatively impacted almost all areas of health, including immunization.
Amid the ongoing COVID-19 response, it is not only our duty to revive immunization systems, but to catch up on and even surpass pre-pandemic levels of coverage.
In pursuing that outcome, we must focus on the most vulnerable first, ensuring that the updated Regional Vaccine Action Plan is linked to the wider quest to achieve universal health coverage, for which our primary health care approach is essential.
I am certain that this group of esteemed experts will deliver. I look forward very much to your guidance for the updated Framework of the Regional Vaccine Action Plan and its implementation plan.
I wish you all the very best, and reiterate WHO’s full support, as together we strive to ensure that everyone, everywhere, at every age, fully benefits from vaccines, for a fairer, healthier future for all.
Thank you.