The study stresses that maintaining high vaccination coverage is essential to prevent resurgence of preventable diseases and safeguard public health.

While 95% is a common benchmark, protective thresholds vary by disease, vaccine schedule, and context; declines can create outbreak risk and immunity gaps, particularly among infants, the elderly, and the immunocompromised.

Falling vaccination rates weaken herd immunity, potentially triggering outbreaks despite historically high overall coverage in the EU.

Health service disruptions during and after the Covid-19 pandemic contributed to declines, though causes are multifactorial and include local barriers.

National averages can be misleading without considering regional variation and the timing of declines related to the Covid-19 period.

The report draws on DIE ZEIT and AFP, published on September 18, 2026, with ongoing updates anticipated.

Measles and rubella showed relatively better trends compared with other vaccines.

In the 2020s, several EU countries show declines in at least four of seven indicators, with Germany and Spain affected across five vaccines, while Hepatitis B and the first measles dose rose slightly.

A comprehensive Lancet Regional Health study analyzes 1980–2024 vaccination coverage across 27 EU countries using WHO/Unicef data.

Six countries—Bulgaria, Cyprus, Ireland, the Netherlands, Romania, and Sweden—saw declines in all seven vaccines studied.

Ireland’s health services, led by the HSE, are pursuing outreach and catch-up programs with a target of 95% uptake for routine childhood vaccines.

Country rankings should be interpreted cautiously, as high national rates can mask regional gaps and data gaps may limit conclusions for certain vaccines.