Efforts to raise child vaccination rates increased in 2023

Efforts to raise flagging childhood vaccination rates increased in 2023 as new shots hit the market.

We compiled a list of pediatric vaccine stories reported over the course of the past year.

Kindergarten vaccination rates remain below pre-pandemic levels

Routine vaccination rates among kindergartners in the United States remained lower than pre-pandemic levels last school year as vaccine exemptions increased to an all-time high, according to data published by the CDC. Read more.

‘The Big Catch-Up’: Health leaders team up to raise child vaccination rates

WHO announced that it was partnering with other global health groups on a campaign called “The Big Catch-Up” to promote childhood vaccination amid a decline in routine immunizations in more than 100 countries during the COVID-19 pandemic. Read more.

CDC advisors give nod to 20-valent pneumococcal vaccine for children

In June, members of the CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices voted unanimously in agreement on four recommendations for the pneumococcal vaccine PCV20. Read more. .

One in six toddlers did not complete childhood vaccination series before COVID-19

In 2019, only around 73% of toddlers completed their combined seven-vaccine series, and non-Hispanic Black children were more likely than non-Hispanic white children to not complete the series. Read more.

For first time in decade, teen HPV vaccine coverage does not increase

For the first time since 2013, the proportion of 13- to 17-year-olds who received their first doses of HPV vaccine in 2022 did not increase, and only 62.6% of surveyed teenagers were up to date on HPV vaccination in 2022, according to an MMWR. Read more.

More than half of children in USVI have had dengue, making them eligible for vaccine

Researchers estimated that more than half of children aged 9 to 13 in the U.S. Virgin Islands have been previously infected with dengue virus, making them eligible for vaccination, according to findings published in MMWR. Read more.

World needs a better pertussis vaccine, expert argues

“I don't know that everyone appreciates that pertussis is in the top 10 causes of death for children worldwide,” C. Buddy Creech, MD, MPH, president of the Pediatric Infectious Diseases Society and director of the Vanderbilt Vaccine Research Program at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, said at the St. Jude/PIDS Pediatric Infectious Diseases Research Conference. Read more.

Study: Moving HPV vaccine initiation to age 9 or 10 could improve coverage

The CDC recommends routine HPV vaccination in the U.S. at ages 11 or 12 years but says the vaccine can be given as early as age 9 years, and a study published in February found that routine HPV vaccination rates could be improved if children were vaccinated earlier. Read more.

‘Reassuring’: Single dose of 9-valent HPV vaccine effective

One dose of the 9-valent HPV vaccine generated a sustained immune response against two prominent cancer-causing types of the virus for up to 2 years, according to study findings published in Pediatrics. Read more.

Maternal group B strep vaccine shows promise in phase 2 trial

Pregnant women who received an investigational group B streptococcus vaccine in a phase 2 trial transferred antibodies to their infants “at levels associated with a reduced risk of invasive group B streptococcal disease,” researchers found. Read more.