(The Manila Times) GENEVA: The UN warned Thursday that a “perfect storm” was brewing, with a raging pandemic disrupting access to routine vaccinations, leaving millions of children at risk from measles and other deadly diseases.

A full 23 million children missed out on basic childhood vaccines last year, as routine health services were hit worldwide by restrictions aimed at controlling Covid-19 and many parents shunned the clinics that were open for fear of exposure to the virus.

It marks the highest number in over a decade and 3.7 million more than in 2019, according to data published Thursday by the World Health Organization and the UN’s children’s agency UNICEF.

And the sharp decline in routine vaccinations comes as many countries have begun loosening restrictions even as the pandemic is far from over.

This has the potential of not only driving up Covid transmission, but also of allowing otherwise vaccine-preventable diseases to begin spreading.

That is because the restrictions in many countries have until now also provided a buffer protecting unvaccinated children against exposure to childhood diseases.