Vaccination Coverage in Children of Fars Province, 2017: Achievement of Global Vaccine Action Plan Goals

Background: Vaccines are among the most available effective tools to prevent infectious diseases. The Global Vaccine Action Plan 2011–2020 (GVAP) compelled all nations to reach ≥90% national coverage for all vaccines by 2020. The aim of this study was to determine the vaccination coverage in children aged 0-18 months in Fars province, southern Iran. Methods: In this cross-sectional study, data were collected from 28 cities of Fars province, in which 6229 children 0-18 months were studied using multi-stage sampling. Information about vaccination was collected by a door-to-door survey and approved by the vaccination card at six age ranges of  at birth, and at 2, 4, 6, 12 and 18 months of age.  Results: The findings showed that 98.6% of children had vaccination card, and the highest coverage rate was at birth. The vaccination coverage at birth, 2 months, 4 months, 6 months, 12 months, and 18 months were 99.96, 99.93, 99.90, 99.75, 99.70 and 99.20% respectively. In this study, the vaccination coverage at all times was high and close to 100%. Conclusion : Immunization coverage will be reached the GVAP goals by 2020. However, maintaining this coverage level and solving some problems can promote vaccine-preventable diseases surveillance system. Keywords: Vaccination, Vaccination Coverage, vaccine-preventable diseases