Paediatric COVID-19 vaccination coverage and associated factors among migrant and non migrant children aged 5-11 years in Aotearoa New Zealand: A population-level retrospective cohort study

Abstract

Paediatric COVID-19 vaccination coverage and associated factors among migrant and non migrant children aged 5-11 years in Aotearoa New Zealand: A population-level retrospective cohort study Nadia A. Charania,1,2, * Linda Kirkpatrick,3 Janine Paynter4 1 Department of Public Health, Auckland University of Technology, Auckland, New Zealand 2 Migrant and Refugee Health Research Centre, Auckland University of Technology, Auckland, New Zealand 3 New Zealand Work Research Institute, Auckland University of Technology, Auckland, New Zealand 4 Department of General Practice and Primary Health Care, University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand Submitted: 23 February 2023; Revision requested: 1 August 2023; Accepted: 9 August 2023 Abstract Objective: Children with migrant and refugee backgrounds may experience immunisation inequities due to barriers to accessing and accepting vaccines. In Aotearoa New Zealand (NZ), national reporting can mask inequities in coverage by migration background. This study explored paediatric COVID-19 vaccine uptake among children with migrant and refugee backgrounds. Methods: This population-level retrospective cohort study compared rates and determinants of paediatric COVID-19 vaccine uptake as of July 2022 amongst migrant and non-migrant children who were aged between 5 and 11 years as of January 2022. Linked de-identified administrative and health data available in Statistics NZ’s Integrated Data Infrastructure were used, and univariate and multivariable logistic regression were conducted to determine associations. Results: Of the total study population (N = 451,323), 3.5% were overseas-born migrant children, 31.3% were NZ-born migrant children, and 65.3% were NZ-born non-migrant children. Only 50.8% (229,164 out of 451,323) of children had received at least one dose. Migrant children were significantly more likely to have received a COVID-19 vaccination than non-migrant children. Logistic modelling revealed that all factors, including ethnicity, gender, age, family type, household income, deprivation, region, parent COVID-19 vaccination status, and child’s previous COVID-19 infection, significantly influenced COVID-19 vaccine uptake. The largest contributing factor was parents’ COVID-19 vaccination status. Conclusions: The findings suggest that NZ’s paediatric COVID-19 vaccination programme was able to address logistical and motivational barriers commonly identified amongst migrants and refugees. Implications for public health: As parents’ vaccination status is an important factor in vaccinating their own children, continuous efforts are needed to support confident parental COVID-19 vaccine decision-making. To address social inequities, engagement with marginalised communities to co-design tailored and localised approaches is recommended. Key words: COVID-19, paediatric, immunisation, migrant, Integrated Data Infrastructure