A1 Refereed original research article in a scientific journal
The Long-Term Success of Mandatory Vaccination Laws After Implementing the First Vaccination Campaign in 19th Century Rural Finland
Authors: Ukonaho Susanna, Lummaa Virpi, Briga Michael
Publisher: OXFORD UNIV PRESS INC
Publication year: 2022
Journal: American Journal of Epidemiology
Journal name in source: AMERICAN JOURNAL OF EPIDEMIOLOGY
Journal acronym: AM J EPIDEMIOL
Article number: kwac048
Volume: 191
Issue: 7
First page : 1180
Last page: 1189
Number of pages: 10
ISSN: 0002-9262
eISSN: 1476-6256
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/aje/kwac048
Web address : https://academic.oup.com/aje/advance-article/doi/10.1093/aje/kwac048/6549054
Self-archived copy’s web address: https://research.utu.fi/converis/portal/detail/Publication/175334012
In high-income countries, childhood infections are on the rise, a phenomenon attributed in part to persistent hesitancy toward vaccines. To combat vaccine hesitancy, several countries recently made vaccinating children mandatory, but the effect of such vaccination laws on vaccination coverage remains debated, and the long-term consequences are unknown. Here we quantified the consequences of vaccination laws on vaccination coverage, monitoring for a period of 63 years (1837-1899) rural Finland's first vaccination campaign against the highly lethal childhood infection smallpox. We found that annual vaccination campaigns were focused on children up to 1 year old and that their vaccination coverage was low and declined over time until the implementation of the vaccination law, which stopped the declining trend and was associated with an abrupt coverage increase, of 20%, to cover >80% of all children. Our results indicate that vaccination laws can have a long-term beneficial effect of increasing the vaccination coverage and will help public health practitioners to make informed decisions on how to act against vaccine hesitancy and optimize the impact of vaccination programs.
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