South Africa’s Child Vaccination Crisis Puts Infants at Growing Risk
South Africa is experiencing a child health crisis with declining routine vaccination coverage, putting hundreds of thousands of infants at risk of preventable and life-threatening diseases.
The country’s health department has declared the drop in immunisation coverage for children a public health emergency, saying that the failure to immunise children is driving outbreaks of measles, diphtheria and whooping cough.
The percentage of children under one who were not vaccinated increased to 36.3 per cent in the first four months of 2026 from 12.1 per cent in 2017, according to data from the department.
The coverage of the six-in-one hexavalent vaccine has also dropped significantly, from 87 per cent in 2017 to 60.5 per cent in 2026. The vaccine is used to prevent diphtheria, tetanus, whooping cough, polio, meningitis and hepatitis B in children.
The decrease was not due to vaccine shortages, but due to fewer parents taking their children in for immunisation, health officials said.
Deputy director general of South Africa’s health department Dr Nonhlanhla Ndlovu said the drop was partly due to concerns about vaccine safety, waning public trust and a lack of understanding of the benefits of childhood immunisation.
In South Africa, there have been almost 3,500 measles cases reported this year, with approximately 70 per cent of the cases affecting children under 14 years.
Several provinces have also been impacted, especially infants younger than six months who may not have received all their immunizations.
Declining coverage is reducing community protection and increasing the risk of serious disease for infants and other vulnerable children, officials said.
