COVID-19 Vaccine Provider Availability and Vaccination Coverage Among Children Aged 5-11 Years - United States, November 1, 2021-April 25, 2022.

ABSTRACT

COVID-19 can lead to severe outcomes in children, including multisystem inflammatory syndrome, hospitalization, and death (1,2). On November 2, 2021, the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices issued an interim recommendation for use of the BNT162b2 (Pfizer-BioNTech) vaccine in children aged 5-11 years for the prevention of COVID-19; however, vaccination coverage in this age group remains low (3). As of June 7, 2022, 36.0% of children aged 5-11 years in the United States had received ≥1 of COVID-19 vaccine (3). Among factors that might influence vaccination coverage is the availability of vaccine providers (4). To better understand how provider availability has affected COVID-19 vaccination coverage among children aged 5-11 years, CDC analyzed data on active COVID-19 vaccine providers and county-level vaccine administration data during November 1, 2021-April 25, 2022. Among 2,586 U.S. counties included in the analysis, 87.5% had at least one active COVID-19 vaccine provider serving children aged 5-11 years. Among the five assessed active provider types, most counties had at least one pharmacy (69.1%) or public health clinic (61.3%), whereas fewer counties had at least one pediatric clinic (29.7%), family medicine clinic (29.0%), or federally qualified health center (FQHC)* (22.8%). Median county-level vaccination coverage was 14.5% (IQR = 8.9%-23.6%). After adjusting for social vulnerability index (SVI)† and urbanicity, the analysis found that vaccination coverage among children aged 5-11 years was higher in counties with at least one active COVID-19 vaccine provider than in counties with no active providers (adjusted rate ratio [aRR] = 1.66). For each provider type, presence of at least one provider in the county was associated with higher coverage; the largest difference in vaccination coverage was observed between counties with and without pediatric clinics (aRR = 1.37). Ensuring broad access to COVID-19 vaccines, in addition to other strategies to address vaccination barriers, could help increase vaccination coverage among children aged 5-11 years.