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Original Research

Program: Council on Community Pediatrics

P3B171: Impact of COVID-19 Pandemic on Routine Immunization Among Children Visiting Brookdale Family Care Center Clinics

Sunday, October 22, 2023
2:00 PM – 4:00 PM US EDT
Location: Walter E. Washington Convention Center, Exhibit Hall A
Poster Presentation
Background: The COVID-19 pandemic had significantly impacted healthcare delivery among children. Since well-child visits were disrupted, all routine immunizations were affected. DTaP vaccine is a mandatory vaccine and multiple doses are routinely administered in all children during a short period. In this study, the delay in the administration of the initial 3 doses of the DTaP vaccine is considered representative of a delay in the overall immunization rate.

Methods: This is a retrospective observational study of children visiting BFCC. The delay in DTaP vaccination of 7 months old children during the pre-COVID period (March to December 2019) and during COVID (March to December 2020) was compared. Subjects were children who had at least 3 well-child visits to BFCC clinics. Deceased patients and those who denied the vaccine were excluded. Vaccination delay was defined as a > 1-month delay from the recommended period. Although the next dose of vaccine could be a catch-up after the initial delayed dose, if it was delayed from the recommended time frame, it was still considered a delay. The age of vaccination for the initial 3 doses was noted and the percentage of delay in respective doses among the two groups was compared. Chi-square tests of proportion were used with Yates' continuity correction where appropriate.

Results: Figure 1 represents the eligible subjects. After exclusion, 408 were eligible for the pre-COVID period and 361 during the COVID. Of note, there were no significant differences in loss of follow-ups in and in completing at least 3 well-child visits pre and during COVID (p-0.16).
There was a significant increase in the delay in the first, second, and third doses of the DTaP vaccines during COVID as compared to pre-COVID (see Fig 2).

Conclusion: Children of 7 months old were more likely to be delayed in immunization. The effect of the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic negatively affected the timely completion of vaccines.