The Ebola epidemic suggests that the increase in the number of deaths caused by measles, malaria, HIV/AIDS, and tuberculosis attributable to health system failures outnumbered deaths from Ebola. Therefore, WHO recommends that vaccination should be considered an essential health service that should not be interrupted.
In December 2019, a new coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) was identified as the causative agent of a severe acute respiratory disease (COVID-19). The virus spread to several countries, causing the World Health Organization (WHO) to declare a pandemic on 11 March 2020. There are still some uncertainties in the natural history of SARS-CoV-2, including sources, transmission mechanisms, and persistence of the virus in the environment. Person-to-person transmission has been documented, with an incubation period of 2 to 14 days. There is currently no vaccine available against COVID-19. WHO has launched a project that aims to coordinate and accelerate the development of a COVID-19 vaccine. As of 23 April, there are six candidate vaccines that have already started clinical trials and 77 that are in the preclinical phase.
Meanwhile, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, health systems are facing a rapid increase in demand. When health systems are overwhelmed, both direct outbreak mortality and indirect mortality from preventable and treatable conditions, such as vaccination, increase dramatically. In fact, an analysis of the 2014-2015 Ebola epidemic suggests that the increase in the number of deaths caused by measles, malaria, HIV/AIDS, and tuberculosis attributable to health system failures outnumbered deaths from Ebola. Therefore, WHO recommends that vaccination should be considered an essential health service that should not be interrupted.
