Every dose counts: safeguarding the success of vaccination in Europe

Vaccines have saved millions of lives worldwide. Vaccination remains one of the most effective tools in public health, preventing diseases such as measles, polio, diphtheria and pertussis. Nevertheless, more than 35 000 people were diagnosed with measles in the EU/EEA in 2024 and 23 people – 14 of them children below five years of age – died following their measles infection.“Thanks to vaccination we have eradicated smallpox and controlled serious diseases, such as polio, diphtheria and tetanus. The challenge for immunisation today is how to safeguard these gains. Accelerated efforts are needed to sustain high vaccination coverage. Every vaccine dose counts, and timing matters for optimal protection,” says Pamela Rendi-Wagner, Director of ECDC. Today, ECDC releases new data on the almost tenfold increase in measles infections recorded in the EU/EEA in 2024. The data demonstrate the long-term impact of declining vaccination uptake and immunity gaps: among people with known vaccination status who fell ill with measles in 2024, eight out of ten had not been immunised. Measles can affect anyone who is unprotected – not only children, but adolescents and adults as well. More than a quarter (26%) of people diagnosed with measles in 2024 were over 14 years old. To prevent measles outbreaks and protect populations vulnerable to the disease, at least 95% of the population eligible for vaccination should receive two doses of the measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine. However,...