Immunization Coverage of Optional Vaccines

Introduction: Immunization is a simple preventive service. Routine immunization is provided free of charge in India. The other additional vaccines are available as optional. Therefore, present study was designed to assess the coverage of optional vaccines in urban and rural setting of Amritsar district. Material and Methods: The present study was a community based cross-sectional study conducted in the catchment area of department of Community Medicine, Sri Guru Ram Das Institute of Medical Sciences and Research, Amritsar. All the children in the age group of 24-60 months were included in the study. Coverage of each vaccine was computed. Analysis of association between immunization coverage and various socio-demographic variables was done using chi square test. Results: Out of the total children included in the study 53.9% were males and 46.1% were females. Coverage in males was significantly higher as compared to females. The difference of immunization among the rural and urban population was found to be highly significant. Conclusions: This study highlights the need to accelerate efforts in improving the immunization coverage for optional vaccines particularly in rural areas.