'Breaks my heart': Yemen jab shortages spark fears for millions of children

WORLD: Some five million Yemeni children are deprived of essential routine vaccinations amid disputes.

Mirsal Adel, 47, had never struggled to find vaccines for his children. In his hometown of Ibb, in southwestern Yemen, public hospitals and paediatric clinics always provided them free of charge.

But when it came to vaccinating his fifth child, a four-month-old boy, securing a shot was far from straightforward.

"I visited the hospital more than once, and I was told that UNICEF, which used to provide the vaccines, stopped supplying them, with no word on when they might arrive," said Adel.

In October 2025, the United Nations children's agency, UNICEF, halted operations in areas controlled by the Houthis following the detention of dozens of UN staff members, including UNICEF workers, and raids on its premises . The Houthis have been fighting Yemen's internationally recognised government for years, and have periodically cracked down on aid sector workers.

The Health Ministry in Yemen's Houthi-held capital, Sanaa, confirmed to Al Jazeera that the final vaccine shipment it received arrived on September 4, 2025. In late July 2026, the government's Health Ministry in Aden warned that nearly five million children in Houthi-controlled areas had been cut off from essential routine immunisations.

"Our children's health is a red line, and we must do everything we can to get them vaccinated," said Adel, who decided last week to travel with his son to Taiz, a government-held city some 75km (47 miles) away, where vaccines are still available.

This Bay News report is based on originating coverage from Al Jazeera.