Impact of COVID-19 Pandemic on Routine Immunization in State of Kuwait: Short-Term Disruption With Rebound in...

This study aimed to explore the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on routine immunization along 4 abbreviated time frames: before the pandemic in 2019, stay-at-home period (March-May) in 2020, reopening period (June-August) in 2020, and corresponding months in 2021.

A secondary analysis of immunization data in Kuwait during the prepandemic period in 2019, stay-at-home period (March-May) in 2020, reopening period (June-August) in 2020, and corresponding months in 2021 was conducted. All vaccines given at 2, 3, 6, 12, 18, and 24 months of age were included in the study.

The mean of total visits from March 2020 to May 2020 dropped (-28.9%) compared with the visits in March 2019-May 2019 and then increased during the reopening period in June 2020-August 2020 (+31.8%). All vaccinations scheduled for children aged ≤24 months showed a reduction. The greatest reduction was detected at age 24 months (-44.2%), followed by age 18 months (-36.5%) and then age 1 year (-28.8%). There were greater declines among non-Kuwaiti children than among Kuwaiti children for all types of vaccines. The mean of total visits in March 2021-May 2021 increased (+15.4%) compared with the mean in the same period in 2020. However, a reduction of -16.0% still exists compared with the reduction at baseline in 2019.

The COVID-19 pandemic had a large impact on childhood vaccinations, with recovery in subsequent months.