Routine Vaccination Coverage in an Adolescent Transgender Population in a Large Tertiary Care Center in the United States

Abstract

To address healthcare disparities among transgender and gender diverse (TGD) adolescents, we examined vaccination coverage in those receiving gender-affirming care. Our study analyzed de-identified data (2013-2022) from a tertiary care clinic. Comparing vaccination rates of 203 TGD adolescent patients to age-matched peers in New York State using CDC National Immunization Survey-Teen data. We found TGD patients had similar vaccination coverage to the general adolescent population. Notably, TGD patients had significantly higher up-to-date human papillomavirus vaccination coverage (76.4%, CI=69.9, 82.0) than the NYS adolescent population (60.5%, CI=53.0, 67.5). This suggests TGD adolescents at gender-affirming clinics maintain or exceed vaccination rates of their cisgender counterparts. Future research should explore vaccination rates for TGD individuals without access to gender-affirming care.