Impact of COVID-19 Pandemic on Routine Vaccination Coverage among Children of Age 15 to 23 Months in Lahore, Punjab, Pakistan
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.53685/jshmdc.v4i1.149Keywords:
Routine vaccination coverage, COVID-19 pandemic, Children, PakistanAbstract
Background: The COVID-19 pandemic affected all socio-economic activities including the provision of routine vaccinations.
Objective: This study determined the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on routine vaccination rates among children aged 15-23 months.
Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted in Lahore, from April 2021 to November 2021. The study included 750 children aged 15 to 23 months from the District of Lahore. A structured questionnaire was used to collect data from the outpatient department of Services Hospital, Lahore after informed consent. The data was analyzed by using SPSS version 26. The p-value <0.05 was considered statistically significant.
Results: Among the study participants, 567 (75%) children had completed their routine vaccines according to the card. One hundred and eighty-three (24.2%) children were not fully vaccinated. Seven hundred and twenty-seven (96.2%) children had oral polio 1 (OPV I), while 693 (91.7%) had Pneumococcal 2 (PCV II), and 696 (92.1%) had taken the Pentavalent 1 vaccine. Measles 2 was received by only 604 (79.9%) children. Sixty-three (8.3%) mothers and caregivers were unaware of the need for vaccination. Twenty-seven (3.6%) mothers had no time to get their children vaccinated, and 27 (3.4%) were uninformed about their children’s vaccination appointments.
Conclusion: The vaccination rate was 36% lower among children of ages 15-23 months in the Lahore district compared to the pre-pandemic era.
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2023 Komal Khadim Hussain, Hasan Danish, Farah Ahmad

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
You are free to:
- Share — copy and redistribute the material in any medium or format
- Adapt — remix, transform, and build upon the material
- The licensor cannot revoke these freedoms as long as you follow the license terms.
Under the following terms:
-
Attribution — You must give appropriate credit, provide a link to the license, and indicate if changes were made. You may do so in any reasonable manner, but not in any way that suggests the licensor endorses you or your use.
-
Non Commercial — You may not use the material for commercial purposes.
-
No additional restrictions — You may not apply legal terms or technological measures that legally restrict others from doing anything the license permits.