Early impact of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic and physical distancing measures on routine childhood vaccinations in England, January to April 2020

Euro Surveill. 2020 May;25(19):2000848. doi: 10.2807/1560-7917.ES.2020.25.19.2000848.

Abstract

Using electronic health records, we assessed the early impact of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) on routine childhood vaccination in England by 26 April 2020. Measles-mumps-rubella vaccination counts fell from February 2020, and in the 3 weeks after introduction of physical distancing measures were 19.8% lower (95% confidence interval: -20.7 to -18.9) than the same period in 2019, before improving in mid-April. A gradual decline in hexavalent vaccination counts throughout 2020 was not accentuated by physical distancing.

Keywords: COVID-19; DTaP-IPV-Hib-HBV vaccine; Measles-Mumps-Rubella vaccine; pandemics.

MeSH terms

  • Betacoronavirus
  • COVID-19
  • Child, Preschool
  • Coronavirus Infections / epidemiology*
  • Coronavirus*
  • Disease Outbreaks / prevention & control*
  • England
  • Health Services Accessibility
  • Humans
  • Infant
  • Measles / prevention & control
  • Measles-Mumps-Rubella Vaccine*
  • Mumps / prevention & control
  • Pandemics*
  • Pneumonia, Viral / epidemiology*
  • Quarantine
  • Rubella / prevention & control
  • SARS-CoV-2
  • Vaccination / statistics & numerical data*

Substances

  • Measles-Mumps-Rubella Vaccine