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Immunisation and vaccines

Vaccination protects people against serious and life-threatening infectious diseases, such as influenza (flu), diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis (whooping cough), measles, mumps, rubella (German measles), meningococcal disease, invasive pneumococcal disease and polio.

Each year, vaccination stops 2.7 million people worldwide from getting measles, one million from getting pertussis and two million babies from getting tetanus.

In the past, many people died of diseases that can now be prevented through vaccination. People also suffered more commonly from disease-related complications, such as blindness due to measles and babies born with deafness, cataracts or learning disabilities due to their mothers getting rubella in pregnancy. Polio - as many people born before the 60's will remember - used to be a major cause of death, paralysis and lifelong disabilities in Europe and other regions.

Questions and answers on COVID-19: Vaccines

COVID-19 vaccination

COVID-19 Vaccine rollout overview

European Vaccination Information Portal

Vaccine-preventable diseases

Childhood immunisation

Vaccine hesitancy

Vaccine hesitancy refers to delay in acceptance or refusal of vaccines despite availability of vaccination services.

Vaccine safety

How safe are vaccines?

Vaccine efficacy / effectiveness

How well does the vaccine work?

Vaccination coverage

The proportion of the EU population who receive the recommended vaccine against diseases.

EU vaccination schedules

The Vaccine Schedule is an ECDC tool and interactive platform of vaccination schedules for individual European countries and specific age groups.

Immunisation Information Systems

Strong information systems to digitally record information about vaccination, Immunisation Information Systems (IIS), are an integral part of well-functioning vaccine programmes.

European Immunisation Week

European Immunisation Week (EIW) is celebrated across the European Region every April to raise awareness of the importance of immunization for people’s health and well-being.

Communication

Infographics and videos

Communication material on immunisation; Infographics and videos.

Latest outputs

Publication

Communicable disease threats report, 5 - 11 September, week 36

Publication -

News

ECDC awards 77 M€ to strengthen EU/EEA Member States’ capacities to detect and identify SARS-CoV-2 variants

News story -

Publication

Data collection on COVID-19 outbreaks in closed settings with a completed vaccination programme: long-term care facilities, version 2.0

Technical report -

Publication

Communicable disease threats report, 29 August - 4 September, week 35

Publication -

News

ECDC and EMA highlight considerations for additional and booster doses of COVID-19 vaccines

Press release -

Data

Combined indicator: 14-day notification rate, testing rate and test positivity, updated 9 September 2021, weeks 34-35

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Data

Combined indicator: 14-day notification rate, testing rate and test positivity, updated 9 September 2021 (colour-blind friendly), weeks 34-35

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Data

14-day case notification rate per 100 000 inhabitants, updated 9 September 2021, weeks 34-35

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Data

Testing rates per 100 000 inhabitants, updated 9 September 2021, week 35

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Data

Combined indicator: 14-day notification rate, testing rate and test positivity, updated 9 September 2021 (colour-blind friendly), weeks 34-35

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Data

Infographic: COVID-19 vaccination in the EU/EEA as of 5 September 2021

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Data

Infographic: Countering online vaccine misinformation

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Data

Video: ECDC statement on the SARS-CoV-2 Delta variant in the EU/EEA

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Data

Infographic: Reducing COVID-19 transmission and strengthening vaccine uptake among migrants

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Data

Infographic: Findings on COVID-19 transmission and vaccine uptake among migrants

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Peer-Reviewed Publication

Strengthening screening for infectious diseases and vaccination among migrants in Europe: What is needed to close the implementation gaps?

Jan 2021

Peer-Reviewed Publication

Why we need more collaboration in Europe to enhance post-marketing surveillance of vaccines

Dec 2020

Peer-Reviewed Publication

Epidemic and pandemic viral infections: Impact on tuberculosis and the lung

Oct 2020

Peer-Reviewed Publication

Prevention of human rabies: A challenge for the European Union and the European Economic Area

Sep 2020

Peer-Reviewed Publication

Epidemiology of measles during the COVID-19 pandemic, a description of the surveillance data, 29 EU/ EEA countries and the United Kingdom, January to May 2020

Aug 2020

Vaccine-preventable diseases

2009 influenza A (H1N1) pandemic

Disease / public health area

Cholera

Disease / public health area

Congenital rubella syndrome (CRS)

Disease / public health area

COVID-19

Disease / public health area

Diphtheria

Disease networks

EUVAC.Net

European Invasive Bacterial Disease Surveillance Network (EU-IBD)

European Diphtheria Surveillance Network (EDSN)