Rieck et al.
Impfquoten von Kinderschutzimpfungen in Deutschland – aktuelle Ergebnisse aus der RKI-Impfsurveillance
[Children vaccination rates in Germany – current results of the RKI-vaccination surveillance]
Epid Bull. 2022;48:3-25. doi: 10.25646/10838
The Robert Koch-Institut (RKI) in Berlin regularly analyzes and publishes the vaccination rates of children and adolescents in Germany based on data resulting from examinations at school entry and from the Association of the Statutory Health Insurance Physicians.
The recently published report documented data for the period 2019–2021 and shows that COVID-19 had no overall negative impact on routine vaccination rates for children and adolescents.
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 (a) booster dose(s) as recommended.
The vaccination rates in individuals below 18 years of age in the risk regions ranged widely, from 14.1% to 52.4%. In Saxony, where the first risk area has been defined in 2014, the vaccination rate increased from 17.4% to 28.5%. In Lower Saxony, the first risk area has been defined in 2019, and the vaccination rate increased from 13.3% to 41.6% in the following year.
In all risk regions, the vaccination rates increased until the age of 12 years and then decreased due to missing booster doses.
The vaccination rates in 2020 were as follows: 36.8% in Bavaria, 24.9% in Baden-Württemberg, 19.7% in Thuringia, 19.3% in Hesse and 12.6% in Saarland.
The burden of disease could be decreased by increased vaccination rates, especially in individuals living in defined risk regions.