Learning from the COVID-19 pandemic to strengthen routine immunization systems

In the final months of 2021, deaths due to the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) surpassed 5 million globally. Available data suggest that even this staggering figure may be a substantial underestimate of the true toll of the pandemic. Beyond mortality, it may take years to fully quantify the direct and indirect impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic such as disruptions in preventive care services. In an accompanying research study in PLOS Medicine, McQuaid and colleagues report on the uptake of routine childhood immunizations in 2020 in Scotland and England during major pandemic-related lockdowns. This adds to a growing body of literature quantifying the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on routine health services and childhood immunization, which provides important opportunities to learn from early pandemic experiences as immunization systems face ongoing challenges.