Building Evidence for Coverage of Fully Vaccinated Children of 12–23 Months of Age across Districts of North India, 2015

CONTEXT: Unprecedented low coverage (63%) of fully vaccinated (FV) children in the recent round of national survey district level household (HH) and facility survey 4 (DLHS-4) propelled health system of Himachal Pradesh for an independent rapid assessment of FV coverage. AIM: The aim of the study was to assess the FV coverage among 12–23-month old children in the state. SETTINGS AND DESIGN: A community-based survey with an interviewer-administered questionnaire was carried out in all 12 districts of Himachal Pradesh from September 2015 to January 2016. SUBJECT AND METHODS: WHO 30 × 7 cluster technique was used. STATISTICAL ANALYSIS USED: Chi-square and unpaired Student's t-test along with 95% confidence intervals. RESULTS: A total of 2492 children across 35,551 HHs (2.4% of state share) were surveyed with FV coverage of 98.1% (95% confidence interval [CI]: 97.5–98.6) and 86% (95% CI: 84.6–87.3) based on history and card, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: The reported FV coverage in the current study was observed too high in the state as reported in earlier round of the national surveys (except DLHS-4).