Background: Since 1991, routine infant and adolescent vaccination has resulted in reductions in HBV incidence among children and adolescents in the
Objectives: To evaluate the vaccination strategies for US jurisdictions administering doses of hepatitis B vaccine.
Methods: Data from November 1, 2007 – June 30, 2009 were analyzed for all jurisdictions. To assess change in vaccine administration, data for one jurisdiction were compared to the previous 2-year time period.
Results: Nationwide, 56 CDC-supported programs administered 448,178 doses of hepatitis B containing vaccine to at-risk adults in 1,212 settings (e.g., STD clinics, HIV testing and treatment facilities, correctional facilities). Nationally, five of the 56 jurisdictions administered 52% or 235,176 doses of hepatitis B vaccine to adults in 255 settings. Among the five, 78% of the doses (133,937) were administered in local health departments and 58% of the doses (71,335) in STD clinics. For one of the five jurisdictions, an increase of 34% was found in dose administration.
Conclusions: These results demonstrate that when vaccine was supplied at no cost, settings serving at-risk adults were able to administer vaccine as part of their existing clinical activities. Because a sizable increase in vaccine administration was found in one jurisdiction, similar increases are expected in other high volume areas.