Childhood Vaccination Uptake Among Children Born in Aotearoa New Zealand Based on Parental Nationality

Date
2023-08-11
Authors
Charania, Nadia
Kirkpatrick, Linda
Paynter, Janine
Turner, Nikki
Supervisor
Item type
Journal Article
Degree name
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Taylor and Francis
Abstract

Migrants and refugees generally experience immunization inequities compared to their host populations. Childhood vaccination coverage rates are influenced by a complex set of interrelated factors, including child and parental nativity. Coverage rates for MMR, pertussis, and HPV vaccines were compared among children born in Aotearoa New Zealand (NZ) of overseas-born parents or NZ-born parents. A nationwide retrospective cohort study was conducted using linked, de-identified data. Logistic regression models examined the most influential factors contributing to differences in timely vaccine uptake. Of the total study population who had received all scheduled vaccines (N = 760,269), 32.9% were children of migrant parents. Children of migrant parents had higher rates of complete and timely uptake for MMR, pertussis, and HPV vaccinations compared to non-migrant children. NZ-born children of migrant parents were significantly more likely to receive MMR and pertussis-containing vaccines on-time compared to those of non-migrants. All included factors, except for the child’s gender and parents’ English ability, significantly influenced vaccine uptake. Among NZ-born children of migrant parents, additional logistic modeling found significant differences based on parental duration of residence, visa group, and region of nationality. Findings point to the importance of differentiating between parent versus child nativity when examining immunization coverage. While vaccination rates were higher for NZ-born children of migrant parents, compared to non-migrant parents, timely coverage rates across both groups were below national targets. Continued efforts are needed to improve timely immunization service delivery to address suboptimal and inequitable coverage.

Description
Keywords
1107 Immunology , 1108 Medical Microbiology , 1115 Pharmacology and Pharmaceutical Sciences , Virology , 3204 Immunology , 3206 Medical biotechnology , 3207 Medical microbiology
Source
Human Vaccines and Immunotherapeutics, ISSN: 1554-8600 (Print); 1554-8600 (Online), Taylor and Francis, 19(2). doi: 10.1080/21645515.2023.2240688
Rights statement
© 2023 The Author(s). Published with license by Taylor & Francis Group, LLC. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/), which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. The terms on which this article has been published allow the posting of the Accepted Manuscript in a repository by the author(s) or with their consent.