Timeliness of Vaccine Administration Among Children in Urban Informal Settlements in Nairobi, Kenya.

Abstract

This study determined the proportion of children below 5 years who received vaccines on time and the associated factors in two large urban informal settlements in Nairobi, Kenya. An analytic cross-sectional study was conducted in Viwandani and Korogocho, with randomly selected households with a child below 5 years. Timely vaccination was defined according to the Kenya Expanded Programme on Immunization schedule. Timeliness of vaccination varied across the three vaccines, with the lowest timeliness observed for MCV1 and relatively high timeliness for BCG and DTP-HIB-Hep3. Religion emerged as a potential factor affecting timeliness, while strengthening outreach, reminder systems, and faith-based engagement can help improve timely vaccination.