Vaccination Coverage in the U.S.

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Vaccination coverage - that is, estimates of the number of people who have received particular vaccines - is measured at national, state, and local levels. Several surveys are used to:

1. Identify groups at risk of contracting vaccine-preventable diseases;
2. Stimulate efforts to increase coverage;
3. Evaluate how well the efforts work

Surveys of U.S. Vaccination Coverage

• National Immunization Survey (NIS)
  • Children only UPDATED September 2012
    
  • Adolescents/Teens only UPDATED August 2012
  • Adults only
• National Health Interview Survey (NHIS) - Adults only UPDATED Nov 2010
  
• Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) - Adults only
  
• WHO/UNICEF estimates of national immunization coverage

More Information on Population-Based Surveys

The following articles provide more information on the strengths and limitations of the population-based surveys described above.

• Impact of methodological "shortcuts" in conducting public health surveys: Results from a vaccination coverage survey
  Source: BMC Public Health. 2008; 8: 99.
• Comparison of two survey methodologies to assess vaccination coverage
  Source: Int. J. Epidemiol. 2007; 36(3) 633-41.
• Forty years and four surveys: How does our measuring measure up? abstract
  Source: Am J Prev Med. 2001; 20 (4S) 6-14
• Population-based surveys and their role in public health
  Source: Am J Prev Med 2001; 20(4S) 15-16 (abstract not available online)
• The Impact of Record Scattering on the Measurement of Immunization Coverage
  Source: Pediatrics 2001; 107(1) 91-96
• Comparison of NIS and NHIS/NIPRCS vaccination coverage estimates. abstract
  Source: Am J Prev Med. 2001; 20 (4 Suppl) 25-7