Marking World Immunization Week 2026, the International Rescue Committee (IRC) announced that, together with partners in the Gavi-funded REACH consortium, it has delivered more than 30 million life-saving vaccine doses in some of the world’s most fragile and conflict-affected settings—reaching over 1 million zero-dose children who had never received a single vaccine.
Since 2022, REACH (Reaching Every Child in Humanitarian Settings) has operated across six countries- Chad, Nigeria, Ethiopia, Sudan, South Sudan, Somalia- and in areas rendered inaccessible by conflict and disaster, delivering both routine immunization and catch-up vaccination for children who have missed years of coverage. The program has reached communities in areas facing significant access constraints for national immunisation services, working through local partners, context-appropriate service delivery models, and sustained humanitarian access.
“Immunization has expanded dramatically worldwide, yet in fragile and conflict‑affected settings, where a child lives can still determine whether they receive life‑saving vaccines,” said Thabani Maphosa, Chief Country Delivery Officer at Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance. “Reaching the most underserved communities is how we sustain progress and prevent outbreaks, and partnerships such as REACH show what’s possible when vaccine delivery is adapted to the realities children in complex and access-constrained environments face.”
The milestone highlights both the scale of global immunization inequality and what is possible when delivery models are designed for crisis contexts. Nearly 20 million children around the world are un- or undervaccinated, including over 14 million “zero dose,” children, half of which live in fragile and conflict-affected countries while routine immunization coverage runs far below the global average. Children in these settings are three times more likely to die than their counterparts in stable countries. Immunization is one of the most direct interventions available to close that gap; REACH shows they can be delivered there, at scale, and at cost.
