Childhood Immunization Coverage, 2013 – 2018

Notes: Childhood Immunization Coverage Rates (CICRs) are the percentage of children in the population of interest, at a particular point in time, that have received the recommended number of doses at a specific age. CICRs report children as up-to date if they have received the recommended doses of a vaccination by age 1, 2 and 6/7, as specified in the SIM. Children aged 6/7 are referenced to reflect the change from reporting 6-year-old coverage rates to 7-year-old coverage rates.

Limitations: As the timeliness of vaccine administration is not taken into consideration, CICRs may not capture if a child is delayed with their immunizations. Delayed immunizations may decrease vaccine efficiency resulting in documented outbreaks. As a result, CICRs can provide a false sense of protection within a community – especially in the susceptible, less than 1-year-old population. In addition, as immunization records are captured where individuals received the vaccination, there are jurisdictional challenges when First Nations children receive immunization off-reserve at a Regional Health Authority (RHA) facility. There is the potential for immunization records to be recorded in an RHA information system, which is different from the information system used in FN communities. As a result, FN communities may report lower CICRs which do not accurately reflect the true situation, due to data capture limitations

Source: First Nation and Inuit Health Branch (FNIHB), Indigenous Services Canada

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