The world's childhood-vaccination rate crept up in 2025, and the number that should worry public-health officials is the one that did not move enough. In new estimates released July 15 by the World Health Organization and UNICEF, global coverage with a first dose of measles vaccine was 84 percent, and with the second dose just 77 percent - both, the agencies note, well below the 95 percent needed to prevent outbreaks [1].
The broader trend was a fragile rebound. Coverage with the first dose of the DTP vaccine - a standard benchmark for immunization systems - reached 90 percent, about 116 million infants; the third dose reached 85 percent [1]. The number of 'zero-dose' children, who receive no vaccine at all, fell by roughly 750,000 to 13.5 million [1]. WHO's director-general, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, and UNICEF's Catherine Russell called the gains real but easily reversed by conflict and vaccine hesitancy.
Data
| First dose (MCV1) | 84% of children (2025) |
|---|---|
| Second dose (MCV2) | 77% of children (2025) |
| ~95% needed to prevent outbreaks | 95% of children (2025) |
Measles is the number to watch, because it is among the most contagious diseases known and punishes any gap in coverage. A first-dose rate of 84 percent and a second-dose rate of 77 percent leave far more than the roughly one-in-twenty unprotected children that herd immunity can absorb [1]. In the Americas specifically, WHO and UNICEF found first-dose measles coverage slipped from 89 to 88 percent and the second dose from 79 to 78 [2].
The record here is a global one, and it sets the context for the outbreaks now filling national headlines: the wall that keeps measles from spreading is built from vaccination rates, and at 84 and 77 percent, the wall has gaps [1]. PAHO's director, Jarbas Barbosa, put the warning plainly - the resurgence of measles, he said, is a sign 'we cannot take these achievements for granted' [2].
