Abstract
BackgroundDue to the social isolation measures adopted in an attempt to mitigate the risk of transmission of SARS-CoV-2, there has been a reduction in vaccination coverage of children and adolescents in several countries and regions of the world.ObjectiveAnalyze the number of doses of vaccine against Measles-Mumps-Rubella (MMR) applied before and after the beginning of mitigation measures due to COVID-19 pandemic in Brazil.MethodsThe data collected refer to the number of doses of the MMR vaccine applied monthly to the target population residing in Brazil: cahildren, aged 12 months (first dose) and children, aged 9 years (second dose), from April 2019 to December 2020. Differences in MMR vaccine doses from April 2019 to March 2020 (before the start of mitigation measures) and April 2020 to September 2020 (after the start of the mitigation measures) were evaluated. Spatial analysis identified clusters with a high percentage of reduction in the median of applied doses no Brazil.ResultsThere was a reduction in the median of doses applied in the Regions North (− 33.03%), Northeast (− 43.49%) and South (− 39.01%) e nos Estados Acre (− 48.46%), Amazonas (− 28.96%), Roraima (− 61.91%), Paraíba (− 41.58%), Sergipe (− 47.52%), Rio de Janeiro (-59.31%) and Santa Catarina (− 49.32) (p < 0.05). High-high type spatial clusters (reduction between 34.00 and 90.00%) were formed in the five regions of Brazil (Moran’s I = 0.055; p = 0.01).ConclusionA reduction in the number of MMR vaccine doses was evidenced as a possible effect by the restrictive actions of COVID-19 in Brazil.
Highlights
Due to the social isolation measures adopted in an attempt to mitigate the risk of transmission of SARS-CoV-2, there has been a reduction in vaccination coverage of children and adolescents in several countries and regions of the world
The COVID-19 pandemic resulted in a reduction in the number of applied doses of the MMR vaccine as a possible effect of the restrictive actions of COVID-19
Contextual and individual factors, cited in recent studies [21, 23], have attributed the decline based on vaccination coverage including a lack of planning by the Brazilian National Universal Healthcare System (SUS), social and cultural aspects effecting vaccination acceptance, logistical difficulties cited by the National Immunization Program (PNI) in offering several routine vaccines as part of the national vaccine schedule, anti-vaccination movements, and inconsistencies in the availability of immunobiologicals offered by Primary Healthcare services [24,25,26,27]
Summary
Due to the social isolation measures adopted in an attempt to mitigate the risk of transmission of SARS-CoV-2, there has been a reduction in vaccination coverage of children and adolescents in several countries and regions of the world. During the COVID-19 pandemic, national and international health agencies recommended that immunization services to continue, uninterrupted, their activities, due to the possibility of a return of vaccine-preventable. It is estimated that in 2018, more than 140,000 people died from measles, with the majority of deaths reported in underdeveloped countries, affecting primarilarly malnourished children [8]. In this sense, health strategies and policies aimed at improving MMR vaccine coverage indicators are needed, especially in low- and middle-income countries [7]
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