Vaccines coverage and associated factors among children aged 12-23 months in the Pawie district, Ethiopia: A cross-sectional study.

Background: Although access to vaccines for children is increasing at healthcare facilities, outbreaks of vaccine preventable diseases and deaths have been reported in different areas of the Benishangul Gumuz region, in Ethiopia. Various interventions have been designed to provide vaccines for each child at an appropriate age. Still there is limited information on full vaccination coverage and associated factors among children aged 12-23 months in the Benishangul-Gumuz region, particularly in the Pawie district.

Method: A community-based cross-sectional study design was used from April, 1-30, 2022 among 750 participants. Study populations were selected using a simple random sampling technique. Data was collected using structured questionnaires. Data was coded and entered into the SPSS Statistics 23.0. Bi-variable and multivariate logistic regression analyses were used to assess factors associated with the children vaccination status. Variables with p-value <0.05 were considered significantly associated with the outcome variable.

Result: The results of this study revealed that 542 (72.3 %) (95 % CI: 68.9, 75.2) of the children were fully vaccinated. Factors significantly associated with full vaccination coverage included employed mothers (AOR = 0.53, 95 % CI: 0.29, 0.95), antenatal care (ANC) follow-up (AOR = 1.74, 95 % CI: 1.00, 3.03), post-natal care (PNC) follow-up (AOR = 6.19, 95 % CI: 3.62, 10.56), health institution delivery (AOR = 4.70, 95 % CI: 1.90, 11.66), birth order of children (AOR = 3.63, CI: 2.00, 6.59), maternal tetanus toxoid (TT) vaccination (AOR = 3.05, CI: 1.36, 6.86) and knowledge of vaccination schedule (AOR = 2.49, 95 % CI: 1.19, 5.21).

Conclusions: This study revealed that among children aged 12-23 months, full vaccination coverage was notably low. Factors significantly associated with higher rates of full vaccination included mothers' occupation, attendance at ANC visits, PNC visits, birth order of children, place of delivery, maternal awareness of vaccination schedules, and maternal TT vaccination status. These findings highlight the multifaceted influences of maternal characteristics, healthcare use patterns, and maternal knowledge on childhood vaccination in this population.