Aims: To determine vaccination coverage, by ethnicity, for the routine publicly funded vaccinations for 11 year olds, from school-based vaccination data in South Auckland, New Zealand.
Methods: De-identified aggregate data were obtained with permission from the Counties Manukau District Health Board (CMDHB) Public Health Nurses Database on the 11-year-old tetanus and polio vaccinations from 2005, and analysed to determine percentages of form return, consent and vaccination receipt by ethnicity, including relative risks for Maori compared to non-Maori students. Reasons for vaccination refusal were also analysed.
Results: Overall, 48% of Maori and 56% of non-Maori in Year 7 in CMDHB in 2005 (n=8642) were immunised through the school-based programme. Assuming that parents who stated their child had already received these vaccinations were all correct, the estimated overall coverage in this population for the recommended Year 7 tetanus vaccination was 67% (53% for Maori, and 71% for non-Maori).
Conclusions: Vaccination coverage amongst 11 year olds in this population was lower than coverage for other childhood vaccinations in New Zealand, and there was a large Maori:non-Maori disparity.