Pandemics, epidemics and inequities in routine childhood vaccination coverage: a rapid review

This rapid review examined how pandemics and epidemics affect inequities in childhood vaccination coverage. The researchers searched for studies comparing vaccination coverage between different populations during pandemics, particularly looking at how COVID-19 disrupted vaccination programmes. Despite screening nearly 2,000 abstracts, no studies met the inclusion criteria, revealing a significant gap in the research literature on this topic.

Key points

• Pandemics disrupt health infrastructure and divert resources from preventive care, including vaccination programmes
• COVID-19 control measures resulted in reductions in vaccination coverage
• Existing inequities in routine childhood vaccination coverage are well documented
• No published studies directly examined the intersection of pandemics and vaccination inequities in the included evidence
• The review identified a critical research gap on how pandemics exacerbate or modify existing vaccination inequities

Limitations

This is a methodology paper reporting a null finding—no eligible studies were identified. It cannot provide evidence about the actual impact of pandemics on vaccination inequities, only that this specific question has not been adequately studied in the literature.