Trends in childhood vaccination coverage in the European Union, 1980–2024: an ecological time-series study

Findings: 

"Of 183 country–vaccine time series, 128 showed positive AAPCs and 55 negative AAPCs, indicating substantial long-term gains but heterogeneous trajectories. In the most recent segment, APCs revealed predominantly declining trends, with 119 decreasing and only 64 increasing trends; 16 countries had four or more decreasing trends across antigens. In 2024, 71 country–antigen combinations reached at least 95% coverage and 62 were between 90% and 94%; in that year, Luxembourg and Portugal achieved at least 95% for all seven antigens, while Romania reported less than 80% for all. The most marked recent declines were observed for HIB-3 and POL-3, with 20 countries each showing decreasing trends, followed by HEPB-3 (18) and DTP-3 (17) whereas measles- and rubella-containing vaccines showed relatively more favorable recent trajectories. Most of these declining segments started between 2019 and 2022, coinciding with the COVID-19 pandemic and its immediate aftermath, and may reflect pandemic-related disruptions to routine childhood vaccination services."