Vaccination rate among children continues to decline: largest decrease among Moroccan and Turkish families

The vaccination rate among young children in the Netherlands continues to decline. The decline is particularly pronounced in certain population groups, according to new research from the RIVM (National Institute for Public Health and the Environment) and Statistics Netherlands (CBS).

PhD candidate Joyce Pijpers linked vaccination data from the RIVM to socio-demographic data from Statistics Netherlands (CBS), thus mapping which groups are lagging behind and how those differences are developing.

This analysis is not about the HPV vaccine, which has recently been in the news because it now protects against even more variants.

"The analyses show that, after adjusting for sociodemographic factors, the MMR vaccination rate at age 2 in the Netherlands has declined significantly among children born between 2008 and 2020, with increasing differences between groups," says Pijpers. Children of Moroccan and Turkish descent, in particular, are showing a sharp decline. The MMR vaccination protects against mumps, measles, which spread earlier this year , and rubella.

“For children born in 2009, their vaccination rate was still 4 percent higher than for children of Dutch origin, but for children born in 2020, it was 25 percent and 12 percent lower, respectively.”

Other factors also play a role. Children who didn't attend childcare and children from larger families (four or more children) were vaccinated less often than children who did attend childcare or grew up in smaller families. In 2020, that difference was 12 percent.

Vaccination rates were also lower among children of self-employed mothers and those from families with the lowest incomes. In both groups, the difference was 7 to 8 percent compared to children of employed mothers or from higher-income households. The same trend applies to the DTaP (Dental Prophylaxis) vaccine, which protects against diphtheria, whooping cough, tetanus, and polio.

According to Pijpers, it's crucial to better understand why parents don't vaccinate their children. "Because unvaccinated children often concentrate within certain groups, the risk of local outbreaks increases."

Pijpers continues: "It's therefore important to better understand why parents don't vaccinate their children, especially in groups with the lowest vaccination rates. Social science research can provide valuable insights for developing targeted interventions and improving vaccination rates."

The study used so-called microdata from Statistics Netherlands (CBS): highly detailed data at the individual and address level, which are available for scientific research under strict conditions. "This is the first study in the Netherlands to link childhood vaccination data to sociodemographic characteristics at such a detailed level. This provides valuable insights for policy and follow-up research," says demographer and sociologist Ruben van Gaalen at Statistics Netherlands .

According to Van Gaalen, the collaboration between RIVM and Statistics Netherlands (CBS) demonstrates the power of data analysis. "CBS is eager to collaborate with institutions like RIVM to make these kinds of complex and important analyses data-technically possible, but also to join forces on statistical and substantive matters."

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