Results from the School Entry Requirement Program for Immunization, 2018

Kim Seon Ju, Park Jin Ju, Yu Jeong-Hee, Kim You Mi
Division of VPD Control & NIP, Center for Infectious Disease Control, KCDC

To increase the effectiveness of vaccination in preventing infectious diseases, timely vaccination according to the schedule is important. Korea has established a standard vaccination schedule and has implemented a National Immunization Program (NIP) that provides 17 types of vaccines for children aged < 12 years. In order to increase the effectiveness of vaccination, the government has allotted approximately 700 billion won from the budget, and it sends letters on immunization guidance to those who are unvaccinated or vaccinated late. With the help of the School Entry Requirement Program, elementary and middle-school students vulnerable to infectious diseases can complete the necessary immunizations before starting school, and consequently protect the health of their schoolmates. This is considered one of the most effective ways of achieving desirable coverage rate of more than 95% for herd immunity. In 2018, the complete immunization coverage rate of the four vaccines was 88.6% in elementary school students. The completion rate of tetanus, diphtheria, and pertussis (Tdap) vaccine was 90.6% in middle school students, and the rate for human papilloma-virus (HPV) vaccination was 82.3% in female adolescents. These values represent an improvement of about 18.0-36.5 percentage points (%p) as compared to the values prior to project implementation. With the School Entry Requirement Program for elementary and middle- school students, the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has also been striving for improving the vaccination rate in the non-vaccinated or vulnerable multicultural family members by providing accurate information regarding vaccination and its safety.

Keywords: Vaccination, Immunization, Child, Vaccination Coverage, Immunization Schedule, Immunization Programs, Students