National, state, and local area vaccination coverage among children aged 19-35 months--United States, 2011.

High vaccination coverage in children by age 2 years has resulted in historically low levels of most vaccine-preventable diseases in the United States, but coverage must be maintained to reduce the burden of disease further and prevent a resurgence of these diseases, particularly in populations with lower vaccination coverage. This report describes national, state, and selected local area vaccination coverage by age 19-35 months for children born during January 2008-May 2010, based on 2011 National Immunization Survey (NIS) results. Vaccination coverage remained above the national Healthy People 2020 target* of 90% for ≥1 dose measles, mumps, rubella vaccine (MMR) (91.6%), ≥3 doses of hepatitis B vaccine (HepB) (91.1%), ≥3 doses of poliovirus vaccine (93.9%), and ≥1 dose of varicella vaccine (90.8%). For the birth dose of HepB, coverage increased from 64.1% in 2010 to 68.6% in 2011; for the more recently recommended ≥2 doses of hepatitis A vaccine (HepA) and rotavirus vaccines, coverage increased from 49.7% to 52.2% and from 59.2% to 67.3%, respectively; and for the full series of Haemophilus influenzae type b vaccine (Hib), coverage increased from 66.8% to 80.4%, reflecting recovery from the Hib shortage that occurred during December 2007-September 2009. The percentage of children who had not received any vaccinations remained at <1%. Children living below the poverty level had lower coverage than children living at or above poverty for ≥4 doses of diphtheria, tetanus toxoid, and acellular pertussis vaccine (DTaP) and ≥4 doses of pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV) (by 6 percentage points each); the full Hib series (by 8 percentage points); and for rotavirus vaccination (by 10 percentage points). Continued partnerships among national, state, local, private, and public entities are needed to sustain current coverage levels and ensure that coverage for the more recently recommended vaccines continues to increase for all children.