Rieck et al.
Impfquoten bei Erwachsenen in Deutschland – Aktuelles aus der KV-Impfsurveillance
[Vaccination rates of adults in Germany – current results of the KV-vaccination surveillance]
Epid Bull. 2022;49:3-23. doi:10.25646/10855
The Robert Koch-Institut (RKI) in Berlin regularly analyzes and publishes the vaccination rates of adults in Germany based on data from the Association of the Statutory Health Insurance Physicians and on vaccination surveillance carried out by the RKI.
The recently published report documented data from the period 2019–2021 and shows that COVID-19 had no overall negative impact on routine vaccination rates for adults. The vaccination coverage of the vaccinations recommended by the STIKO (Standing Committee on Vaccination) was mostly below 50%.
Regarding TBE, data were analyzed for all defined risk regions (164 in total) in the federal states of Bavaria, Baden-Palatinate, Hesse, Thuringia, Saarland and Lower Saxony. For the assessment of TBE vaccination rates, a full vaccination series was defined as having had three injections for the basic immunization and one or more booster doses as recommended.
The vaccination rates in individuals above 18 years of age in the risk regions was in a wide range from 7.5% to 39.1%.
In Saxony, where the first risk area has been defined in 2014, the vaccination rate increased from 13% to 23% in 2017 and remained below 20% in 2020. In Lower Saxony, the first risk area has been defined in 2019, and the vaccination rate increased from 10% to 20% in the following year. In Baden-Württemberg and Rhineland-Palatinate, the vaccination coverage remained relatively constant (16% and 13%, respectively). In Bavaria, it decreased from 22% to 20% and in Thuringia from 33% to 30%. A slight increase has been observed in Hesse from 15% to 17% and in Saarland from 5% to 8%.
In all TBE risk regions, the vaccination rates decreased in individuals aged 60 years and older due to missing timely booster doses (three- instead of five-year interval).
The burden of disease could be decreased with higher vaccination rates, especially in individuals living in defined risk regions. It must be mentioned that the risk of severe TBE and sequelae increases with the age of patients.