Impact of COVID-19 pandemic on the utilization of routine immunization services in Lebanon
Ziad Mansour,
Jinan Arab ,
Randa Hamadeh,
Bernard Gerbaka,
Roles
Writing – review & editing
Affiliation
Division of Pediatric Intensive Care Unit and Pediatric Emergencies, Department of Pediatrics, Hôtel-Dieu de France, Beirut, Lebanon
⨯
Abdul Rahman Bizri
Roles
Conceptualization,
Writing – review & editing
Affiliation
Division of Infectious Diseases, Department of Internal Medicine, American University of Beirut Medical Center, Beirut, Lebanon
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Impact of COVID-19 pandemic on the utilization of routine immunization services in Lebanon
Ziad Mansour,
Introduction
The global abrupt progression of the COVID-19 pandemic may disrupt critical life-saving services such as routine immunization (RI), thus increasing the susceptibility of countries to outbreaks of vaccine-preventable diseases (VPDs). Being endemic to several infectious diseases, Lebanon might be at increased risk of outbreaks as the utilization of RI services might have deteriorated due to the pandemic and the country’s political unrest following the October 2019 uprising. The aim of this study was to assess the changes in the utilization of RI services in both the public and private sectors following the COVID-19 pandemic.