Effectiveness and Equity of Australian Vaccine Mandates.

Abstract

* Abbreviations: NJNPlay — : No Jab No Play NJNPay — : No Jab No Pay In this issue of Pediatrics , Attwell et al1 assess the impact of two policy changes on childhood vaccination coverage in Australia. Conducting an interrupted time series analysis, the authors measure vaccination coverage of Australian children at 12 and 60 months at federal, state, and community levels after the implementation of (1) “No Jab, No Play” (NJNPlay), state-level policies denying unvaccinated children enrollment in preschool starting in 2014; and (2) “No Jab, No Pay” (NJNPay), a federal-level policy linking vaccination receipt to government family assistance payments enacted in 2016. This study is an important contribution to the vaccination policy literature and an intriguing study of behavioral theory and health equity. Psychology is an essential part of vaccine intervention design. In an exhaustive review, Brewer et al2 summarized the vaccination and psychology literature in 2017, finding 3 ways researchers have leveraged psychology to increase vaccination: (1) understanding and changing thoughts and feelings about infectious diseases and vaccines via direct communication, (2) leveraging social processes and norms to alter vaccination behaviors, and (3) facilitating direct behavior change … Address correspondence to Joshua T. B. Williams, MD, Denver Health Medical Center, 301 W 6th Ave, MC #1911, Denver, CO 80204. E-mail: joshua.williams{at}dhha.org