Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Routine Childhood Immunization in Saudi Arabia

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic is impacting national and international public health. Routine childhood immunization may be adversely affected by COVID-19 mitigation measures. We aimed to identify the prevalence of delayed immunization and explore the reasons and barriers for delayed immunization during the COVID-19 pandemic in the Qassim region, Saudi Arabia. We conducted a cross-sectional study using an online self-administered questionnaire for parents of children under two years of age during the period from 1 May to 30 June 2020. Most of the 749 participants (82.6%) were mothers, with 31 to 40 years being the most common age group (49.8%). Nearly three-quarters (73.2%) of the parents had appointments scheduled for their child’s vaccination during the pandemic, and approximately 23.4% of the parents reported a delay of more than one month in the immunization of their child. The most common reason for the delay was the fear of being infected by COVID-19 (60.9%). Large household size and lack of insurance were risk factors for immunization delay. The COVID-19 pandemic has affected the timeliness of routine childhood immunization in Saudi Arabia. Childhood immunization should be prioritized, as well as the implementation of focused strategies to achieve significant and sustainable vaccination rates during pandemics.

Impact of COVID-19 pandemic on routine childhood immunisation services post lockdown in a tertiary care centre in Meerut district of western U.P.

“…8 Also, similar results have been documented in a study of Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and England. [9][10][11] The least affected group was children receiving birth doses as after the guidelines of Ministry of Health and Family Welfare on 15th April, our hospital resumed administration of birth doses to all institutionally delivered babies and by December end it has reached almost to the Pre-COVID numbers. Our hospital being a referral centre for COVID deliveries too and also as many private practitioners were not conducting deliveries at their place, number of deliveries were not significantly decreased because of lockdown in our centre.…”

Continuity of routine immunization programs in Canada during the COVID-19 pandemic

“…12 Surveys of parents in other jurisdictions have found several barriers to vaccination during the pandemic, including uncertainty around whether vaccination services were operating, 15 difficulties in making appointments, 15 and fears of exposure to COVID-19. 15,16 In particular, public hesitancy to attend immunization clinics has been widely noted as a barrier to providing routine immunizations during the pandemic. 10,12,13,16 P/Ts in our study also reported that some clients were hesitant to attend immunization appointments, especially during early stages of the pandemic.…”

“…15,16 In particular, public hesitancy to attend immunization clinics has been widely noted as a barrier to providing routine immunizations during the pandemic. 10,12,13,16 P/Ts in our study also reported that some clients were hesitant to attend immunization appointments, especially during early stages of the pandemic. These findings highlight the importance of clear, consistent, and timely communication from public health or immunization providers regarding the importance of routine immunization and the implementation of measures to prevent disease transmission in clinic settings.…”

“…A recent study found that advice for parents to continue immunizations resulted in confusion and immunization delays due to conflict with stay-at-home orders. 16 As well, offering additional hours or days specifically for immunization could encourage individuals to make in-person visits. P/Ts in our study mentioned offering immunizations at other medical appointments, which may be useful for catching up missed adult and older adult immunizations.…”

The incremental burden of invasive pneumococcal disease associated with a decline in childhood vaccination using a dynamic transmission model in Japan: A secondary impact of COVID-19

“…However, since early 2020, many countries have suffered from disruptions in childhood vaccination programs, including pneumococcal vaccination, due to the outbreak of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), which has been declared as a global pandemic [ [9] , [10] , [11] , [12] , [13] ]. The pandemic has impacted vaccine supply and resulted in an increase in parents opting to cancel or postpone their children's vaccinations [ 14 , 15 ].…”