India, July 15 -- An estimated 13.5 million "zero-dose" children, including 679,000 in India, did not receive a single vaccine in their first year in 2025, according to the annual WHO-UNICEF Estimates of National Immunization Coverage (WUENIC) released on Wednesday. Nigeria topped the chart with 2.2 million unvaccinated children.

The report said 90% of infants globally, or nearly 116 million, received at least one dose of a diphtheria, tetanus, and pertussis (DTP) vaccine, and 85% (110 million) completed the full three-dose series. Both indicators rose by one percentage point from the previous year. But global coverage remains one point below 2019 levels, hovering within the same narrow range since 2009.

The "zero-dose" children figures...