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. 2022 Mar 25;10(4):507.
doi: 10.3390/vaccines10040507.

Supporting Immunization Uptake during a Pandemic, Using Remote Phone Call Intervention among Babies Discharged from a Special Neonatal Care Unit (SNCU) in South India

Seema Murthy  1 , Meenal Sawant  1 , Sahana Sadholalu Doreswamy  1 , Sateesh Chandra Pothula  1 , Shirley Du Yan  2 , Tanmay Singh Pathani  1 , Deepali Thakur  1 , Srikrishna Rajarama Sastry Vemuri  3 , Sanjeev Upadhyaya  3 , Shahed Alam  2 , Madireddy Alimelu  4 , Himabindu Singh  5
Affiliations

Supporting Immunization Uptake during a Pandemic, Using Remote Phone Call Intervention among Babies Discharged from a Special Neonatal Care Unit (SNCU) in South India

Seema Murthy et al. Vaccines (Basel). .

Abstract

COVID-19 has impacted children's immunization rates, putting the lives of children at risk. The present study assesses the impact of phone-call counseling, on immunization uptake during the pandemic. Families of babies discharged from the SNCUs in six government centers in three South Indian states were recruited. Calls were made 10 days after the immunization due date. Missed vaccinees were counseled and followed up on 7 and 15 days. Of 2313 contacted, 2097 completed the survey. Respondents were mostly mothers (88.2%), poor (67.5%), and had secondary level education (37.4%). Vaccinations were missed due to the baby's poor health (64.1%), COVID-19 related concerns (32.6%), and lack of awareness (16.8%). At the end of the intervention, the immunization uptake increased from 65.2% to 88.2%. Phone-call intervention can safely support immunization and lower the burden on health workers.

Keywords: COVID; SNCU babies; immunization uptake.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Follow-up schedule.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Overall reasons for non-vaccination.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Immunization uptake at the end of the study.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

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