A study by IDIAPJGol reveals lower childhood and youth vaccination rates during the pandemic in disadvantaged areas

A study led by IDIAPJGol states that in the most disadvantaged areas, the percentage of children and adolescents vaccinated during the pandemic was nearly 8 percentage points lower than in wealthier areas

Socioeconomic inequalities influence COVID-19 vaccination rates and the incidence of the disease among children and adolescents. This is the conclusion of a study led by the Real-World Epidemiology research group at the Jordi Gol Primary Care Research Institute (IDIAPJGol), published in the journal Frontiers in Pediatrics. The study compares the number of COVID-19 cases diagnosed in children and adolescents aged 5 to 15 years living in Catalonia during the pandemic, before and after vaccination, considering socioeconomic factors.

The results show significant inequality in vaccination coverage. While 74.6% of adolescents living in wealthier areas were immunized against COVID-19, only 66.9% of those living in poorer areas were vaccinated. These findings highlight the existence of structural inequalities that influence both access to healthcare services and the perception and acceptance of vaccines.

The study authors emphasize the importance of implementing strategies to improve equity in primary care, including information campaigns tailored to vulnerable communities. The study's lead author, researcher Irene López, points out that “our results highlight the need to consider all barriers to vaccine access, including socioeconomic factors.”

A cohort study

The research was based on a cohort of over 1.5 million children and adolescents included in the Primary Care Research Development Information System (SIDIAP) of IDIAPJGol. The research team stratified the population based on a territorial socioeconomic index to study how inequalities affected infection incidence and vaccination rates. This methodology provided a detailed view of the impact of social conditions on child health during the pandemic.

Reference to the article

López-Sánchez I, Perramon-Malavez A, Soriano-Arandes A, Prats C, Duarte-Salles T, Raventós B and Roel E (2024) Socioeconomic inequalities in COVID-19 infection and vaccine uptake among children and adolescents in Catalonia, Spain: a population-based cohort study. Front. Pediatr. 12:1466884. doi: 10.3389/fped.2024.1466884