//2019 was a terrible year for measles. 2021 could be much worse.

2019 was a terrible year for measles. 2021 could be much worse.

Measles cases increased by 556 percent globally by 2019 from a historic low in 2016, according to a new Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report study. | Julian Stratenschulte/picture alliance via Getty Images

The pandemic is interrupting measles vaccine programs around the world.

The last several years have been terrible for measles, the highly contagious — and vaccine-preventable — childhood disease. And, unfortunately, because of the Covid-19 pandemic, the next few years are shaping up to be much worse.

Measles cases increased by 556 percent globally by 2019 from a historic low in 2016, according to a new Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report study. Around the world, measles deaths also shot up by nearly 50 percent in that period, to 207,500 last year.

What’s driving the trend? It’s quite simple: “The fundamental cause of the resurgence was a failure to vaccinate,” the report