Dhaka, April 29 -- About 81.6 percent of children in Bangladesh are covered under the national immunisation programme, but nearly half a million of them do not receive all the scheduled vaccine doses on time, according to UNICEF and the World Health Organisation (WHO), and Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance.

A media statement issued on Monday said around 400,000 children in the country have missed at least one vaccine dose while 70,000 have received none at all.

The data shows immunisation rates are lower in urban areas.

In cities, 79 percent of children received all doses while 2.4 percent were not administered a single dose and 9.8 percent missed at least one.

In rural areas, 85 percent of children received full immunisation.

The statement...