[Correspondence] Population size and vaccination rates for zero-dose estimates – Authors' reply

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Source: The Lancet

Original: https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(25)02201-9/fullt...

Published: 2025-12-06

Neema Kumari and her colleagues raised concerns about the estimates of zero-dose children in India and the use of absolute numbers versus relative metrics in the original article. The authors agreed that relative metrics are key to understanding the successes and gaps in equitable health care. Most of their article focused on vaccination rates rather than numbers of unvaccinated children. The authors emphasized that in addition to addressing relative differences, it is important to pay attention to absolute numbers as well. The 2030 Immunization Agenda (IA2030) sets a global goal of reducing the number of zero-dose children by 50 percent by 2030. Thus, the authors recognized the need to track both types of metrics—relative and absolute—to comprehensively understand the state of immunization programs globally.