September Africa has launched a new Continental Immunisation Strategy for 2026–2030 as countries across the continent face persistent vaccination gaps, recurring disease outbreaks and growing pressure on health budgets.

The strategy, led by the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC), aims to strengthen routine vaccination, reach children who have received no routine vaccine doses and make immunisation systems more resilient to future epidemics.

7.1 Million Children Missed Routine Vaccination

According to figures cited in recent reporting on the strategy, around 7.1 million African children under one year of age—about 15.6%—received no routine vaccine dose in 2025.

The gap comes as African countries continue to deal with outbreaks of vaccine-preventable diseases, population displacement, conflict, climate-related emergencies and financial pressures affecting healthcare delivery.

Six Strategic Priorities

The Continental Immunisation Strategy identifies six major areas of action.

These include sustainable financing and political commitment, improved digital health and vaccination data systems, integration of immunisation into primary healthcare, stronger community engagement, local vaccine manufacturing and supply-chain resilience, and epidemic preparedness.

The strategy is intended to move vaccination beyond a programme focused mainly on childhood immunisation and toward a life-course approach, covering appropriate vaccination needs across different stages of life.

Focus on Zero-Dose Children

One of the major challenges is reaching so-called zero-dose children—children who have not received even a first routine vaccine dose.

Africa CDC says the strategy is designed to identify and reach underserved populations through stronger primary healthcare systems, community health workers and better use of vaccination data.

Digital immunisation registries could help health authorities identify children who have missed vaccinations and improve monitoring of vaccine coverage.

Building Public Trust

The strategy also places emphasis on community engagement and trust.

Health officials and immunisation practitioners say vaccination programmes work more effectively when communities understand the benefits of vaccines and are able to raise concerns with trusted healthcare workers and community leaders.

Religious leaders, teachers, traditional authorities, youth organisations and community health workers can play an important role in connecting vaccination programmes with local communities.

Africa Wants Greater Vaccine Manufacturing Capacity

Another important component is reducing Africa’s dependence on imported vaccines.

The continent currently imports the vast majority of the vaccines it uses. The new strategy therefore supports expanded African manufacturing, pooled procurement and stronger regional supply chains.

Africa CDC’s strategy links local manufacturing with health security and epidemic preparedness, arguing that stronger regional production could improve the availability of vaccines during future outbreaks.

Financing Remains a Major Challenge

Implementing the strategy will require sustained financing.

African governments face competing demands from healthcare, food security, climate-related emergencies, infrastructure and debt servicing. At the same time, international health financing is under pressure.

Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, has set its own 2026–2030 targets to reach 500 million additional children and prevent an estimated 8–9 million deaths, highlighting the broader international effort to maintain vaccination programmes.

Preparing for Future Outbreaks

The new strategy also aims to integrate vaccination with broader epidemic-response systems.

Africa CDC wants countries to strengthen cross-border surveillance, emergency preparedness and rapid-response capacity so that vaccination programmes can respond more quickly when infectious disease threats emerge.

The strategy provides a continental framework through 2030, but implementation will depend on national plans, domestic financing, healthcare infrastructure, trained personnel and cooperation among governments and international partners.