[National Childhood Vaccination Coverage among Aged 1-3 and 6 Years in the Republic of Korea, 2022]

The most cost-effective way to prevent vaccine-preventable diseases is to set and maintain vaccination coverage level above the herd immunity threshold for disease transmission prevention. In the Republic of Korea (ROK), the government is implementing policies to achieve immunization coverage of over 95% through routine immunization guidelines and activities, such as the National Immunization Program (NIP) for free since 2014. The national vaccination coverage serves as an important indicator of the NIP's effectiveness. Since 2015, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency has been publicly reporting the national vaccination coverage levels. This report presents the main results of the national childhood vaccination coverage rate for 2022, which includes 1.2 million records of children aged 12 months (born in 2021), 24 months (born in 2020), 36 months (born in 2019), 72 months (born in 2016). The overall vaccination coverage rates for respective age groups in 2022 were 96.1%, 93.5%, 89.7% and 88.6%. Additionally, this report provides sub-national results of vaccination coverage rates and suggests future directions. The ROK's vaccination coverage exceeds that of many advanced and developed countries. Although the ROK has been maintaining a high-level vaccination coverage rates, there are differences in vaccination coverage rates by region or some vaccines. Thus, further investment and research are required to address issues such as vaccine hesitancy, vaccine refusal, the anti-vaccine movement, and vulnerable social group.