Evaluation of strengthening measures to accelerate routine immunization coverage in Thailand which impacted by COVID-19 pandemic

Abstract

Vaccine is an effective tool to raise immunity and prevent diseases among population. Due to COVID-19 pandemic, vaccine uptake has reduced globally including Thailand. The Ministry of Public Health recognized this issue and implemented a policy to accelerate routine vaccination coverage toward the normal level. This study aimed to assess routine vaccine coverage in Thailand. Data were analyzed using mixed method including document review and descriptive statistical analyses on vaccine coverage in the Ministry of Public Health’s health data center. The result shown that, during the pandemic, the routine vaccine coverage decreased from 82.9-97.4% (median 90.1%) to 65.9-94.3% (median 75.2%). The reduction was noticeably observed in all vaccination programs that require parents to get an appointment to bring their children for the services, except for the birth dose vaccines. Since the Ministry of Public Health implemented policies and integrated measures to accelerate vaccine uptake, the vaccine coverage was raised to 72.2-90.6% (median 83.8%), which was 2.8-19.9% (median 8.6%) higher than pre-implementation phase. However, to increase Thailand’s vaccine coverage to achieve the long-term target, the significant measures should be implemented continuously including advocating the policies through health system administration, using communication and social platforms to drive the policies, revising the strategy for vaccination service management, and improving the efficiency of electronic vaccination database.