Overall, 17.2% of children initiated but did not complete the combined seven-vaccine early childhood series, according to a study published in Pediatrics. Sarah Y. Michels, MPH, and colleagues examined factors associated with starting but not completing multidose vaccine series. A total of 16,365 children aged 19-35 months were classified into one of three vaccination patterns: completing the combined seven-vaccine series (72.9%); not initiating one or more of the seven-vaccine series (9.9%); or initiating all series but not completing one or more multidose series (17.2%). About 8.4% of children needed only one additional dose from one of the five multidose series to complete the combined seven-vaccine series. Associations with starting but not completing multidose series were strongest for moving across state lines (adjusted prevalence ratio [aPR], 1.45), number of children (aPRs, 1.29 and 1.68 for 2-3 and ≥4, respectively), and lack of insurance (aPR, 2.03). “If children who were missing only one outstanding dose from a multidose vaccine series had received that final dose, the United States would have achieved the Healthy People 2020 goal of 80% coverage for combined seven-vaccine series completion in 2019,” Michels and colleagues wrote.
