Overview of childhood vaccination coverage in Brazil and the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic: Is our children’s health at risk? A review of pre-COVID-19 periods and during the COVID-19 pandemic

•The coronavirus disease (COVID)-19 has had a great impact on several aspects related to the population’s health, including the vaccination adherence rate.•In Brazil, it was observed a linear growth trend in childhood vaccination coverage (CVC) between 2015 and 2018 regarding all vaccines. However, from 2018 onwards, after the presidential elections, the CVC reduced significantly, showing an even more pronounced decrease with the start of the pandemic.•The reduction in CVC observed for some vaccines was related to the higher percentage of votes for the government with a right political ideology.•When analyzing the Human Development Index (HDI), it was observed that the lowest values of this indicator were associated with a more expressive reduction in CVC.•Although Brazil has a successful and exemplary record in combating several diseases, mainly due to the high rate of CVC, the continuous reduction in this coverage must be thoroughly evaluated by health managers.