Vaccination Coverage and associated factors among under-five children in Ethiopia: Mini Demographic and Health Survey 2019

Abstract

Background: Vaccination is also the prevention strategy for common childhood illnesses. Globally vaccines prevent millions of outbreaks of diseases and save thousands of lives each year, but vaccine-preventable diseases remain a threat. Child vaccination coverage is higher in Eastern and Southern Africa than in West and Central Africa. Nevertheless, more refined data reveal that the levels of inequality between and within countries are substantial. This study aimed to measure vaccination coverage and associated factors among under-five children in Ethiopia. Methods: This study's data was extracted from the 2019 Ethiopia Mini Demographic and Health Survey. A weighted sample of 935 under-fives aged 12-23 months participated in the study. The STATA version 16 software was used to conduct the analysis. Backward stepwise elimination was manually applied using complex sample designs for inferential statistics and sampling weights for descriptive statistics. At the level of p-value 0.05, statistical significance was finally declared. Results: The overall vaccination coverage in this study was 55.0%. In multivariate analysis the age of household head, (AOR = 0.617, 95% CI: 0.400- 0.954) had lower among the 41-50 age household head as compared to the 18-30 age household head. The odds of vaccination coverage were lower in the Oromia region compared with the Tigray region (AOR = 0.256, 95% CI: 0.134-0.488). Vaccination coverage odds were lower in rural places of residence in comparison with the urban places of residence (AOR = 0.495, 95% CI: 0.315-0.779). Regarding the household wealth index, the richer wealth index (AOR = 1.791, 95% CI: 1.101-2.915) had higher odds of vaccination coverage when compared with children from the poorest wealth index. Higher odds of vaccination coverage were found for mothers who gave birth in a health facility as compared to mothers who gave birth at home (AOR = 1.437, 95% CI: 1.083-1.907). When compared to children who did not receive postnatal care, those who did have higher odds of having received all recommended vaccinations (AOR = 2.377, 95% CI: 1.564-3.612). Conclusion: Vaccination coverage in Ethiopia was significantly lower than the worldwide target. It shows the region, household age, place of residence, wealth index, place of delivery, and postnatal care had a statistically significant association with vaccination coverage. These findings suggest that mobile and outreach vaccination services are needed for hard-to-reach rural areas, especially pastoral and semi-pastoral areas. Furthermore, additional research may be necessary to obtain more representative regional data.

Immunization Coverage and Factors Associated with Failure to Complete Childhood Immunization

“…Our analysis revealed no significant gender disparity in immunization coverage, counteracting the societal presumption of female children being less vaccinated than male children. This finding underscores a positive shift towards equitable health practices within the community, challenging traditional biases and emphasizing the uniform application of immunization services across genders (21,26,27). Socioeconomic status emerged as a critical determinant of immunization coverage.…”