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. 2025 Dec;21(1):2528403.
doi: 10.1080/21645515.2025.2528403. Epub 2025 Jul 11.

Characterizing adolescent vaccination in publicly funded national immunization programs in Latin America and the Caribbean: A review of the literature

Monica Rojas  1 , Maria Florencia Lución  2 , Ricardo Becker Feijó  3 , Antonio Luevanos  4 , Ivan Felipe Gutierrez Tobar  5 , Dora Estripeaut  6 , Andrea Schilling  7 , Jessica Webster  8 , Maria Eugenia Perez  9 , Luciana Hirata  10 , Juan Carlos Orengo  11 , Cintia Irene Parellada  10
Affiliations

Characterizing adolescent vaccination in publicly funded national immunization programs in Latin America and the Caribbean: A review of the literature

Monica Rojas et al. Hum Vaccin Immunother. 2025 Dec.

Abstract

This review aimed to characterize adolescent vaccination schedules in publicly funded national immunization programs in Latin America and the Caribbean. The initial review identified vaccine type, target age and gender, dose schedule, and vaccination coverage rate (VCR) across 50 countries/territories in the region. A systematic review from January 2010-October 2023 was then conducted to identify primary data collection studies reporting VCRs. Overall, 42 webpages and 23 primary studies were identified. Among 47 countries/territories with ≥1 vaccine for adolescent immunization, human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine was included in 45, tetanus component vaccines in 43, and meningococcal vaccines in 10. Catch-up vaccination for hepatitis B in 17, and yellow fever in all 13 endemic countries/territories. VCRs were primarily available for HPV. The findings of this review underscore the need to prioritize adolescent vaccination, improve accessibility, and strengthen tracking infrastructure to ensure comprehensive protection of this age group across the region.

Keywords: Adolescent; Latin America and Caribbean; immunization; vaccination coverage; vaccine uptake; vaccines.

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Conflict of interest statement

Monica Rojas is an employee of MSD Colombia, a subsidiary of Merck & Co., Inc., Rahway, NJ, USA, who may own stock and/or hold stock options in Merck & Co., Inc., Rahway, NJ, USA; Maria Florencia Lución and Ivan Felipe Gutierrez Tobar have declared no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper; Ricardo Becker Feijó has received honoraria for lectures, presentations, educational events and support for attending meetings and/or travel from Pfizer, MSD, GSK and Sanofi; Antonio Luevanos has received honoraria for lectures, presentations, educational events and support for attending meetings and/or travel from MSD; Dora Estripeaut has received honoraria for lectures, presentations, educational events and/or support for attending meetings and/or travel from Pfizer, Sanofi and MSD; Andrea Schilling has received honoraria for lectures, presentations, educational events, and support for attending meetings and/or travel from Pfizer and MSD; Jessica Webster participated in a paid internship of Merck Sharp & Dohme LLC, a subsidiary of Merck & Co., Inc., Rahway, NJ, USA; Maria Eugenia Perez is an employee of MSD Argentina, a subsidiary of Merck & Co., Inc., Rahway, NJ, USA, who may own stock and/or hold stock options in Merck & Co., Inc., Rahway, NJ, USA; Juan Carlos Orengo is an employee of Merck Sharp & Dohme LLC, a subsidiary of Merck & Co., Inc., Rahway, NJ, USA, who may own stock and/or hold stock options in Merck & Co., Inc., Rahway, NJ, USA; Cintia Irene Parellada and Luciana Hirata are employees of MSD Brazil, a subsidiary of Merck & Co., Inc., Rahway, NJ, USA, who may own stock and/or hold stock options in Merck & Co., Inc., Rahway, NJ, USA.

Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
Adolescent immunization schedule in national immunization programs in Latin America and the Caribbean by type of vaccines, 2023.
Figure 2.
Figure 2.
Evolution of the HPV vaccination by year, gender, and country. *Started with bivalent HPV vaccine in the national immunization program and later switched to quadrivalent HPV vaccine. BR: British; HPV: human papillomavirus vaccine; St: Saint.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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