The Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices recommends simultaneous administration of all age-appropriate doses of vaccines. We estimated the vaccination coverage for ≥2 doses of hepatitis A vaccine (≥2 HepA) that could have been achieved if opportunities for simultaneous administration with other recommended childhood vaccines had not been missed.

We analyzed National Immunization Survey-Child data for 2008–2017 in the United States. We defined potentially achievable ≥2 HepA coverage by age 24 months as the possible coverage if opportunities for simultaneous administration with other age-appropriate doses of vaccines for children by age 24 months had not been missed. We compared potentially achievable vaccination coverage to reported ≥2 HepA vaccination coverage by birth years 2007 to 2015. For children born in 2015, we stratified estimates by state and by selected socio-demographic factors. Both potentially achievable and reported ≥2 HepA coverage were evaluated using a Kaplan–Meier survival procedure to account for censoring of vaccination status.

Compared with reported vaccination coverage, potentially achievable coverage for ≥2 HepA was at least 10 percentage points higher across birth years 2007 to 2015 and would have surpassed the 85% target of Healthy People 2020 for children born in 2015 (Figure 1). For the 2015 birth cohort, potentially achievable ≥2 HepA coverage exceeded the 85% Healthy People 2020 target in ten states (Figure 2). In addition, potentially achievable vaccination coverage was higher than reported coverage across all selected socio-demographic factors, with differences ranging from 20.1 percentage-points (private insurance only) to 31.7 percentage-points (non-Hispanic Black) (Table 1).

Potentially achievable coverage with ≥2 HepA consistently exceeded reported coverage for children from nine recent birth cohorts and across all selected socio-demographic characteristics. Coverage could increase substantially if missed opportunities were eliminated. Evidence-based interventions such as establishment of standing orders, use of provider reminders, and use of immunization information systems are recommended to increase HepA coverage among young children.

All authors: No reported disclosures.