The impact of COVID-19 on routine vaccinations in Taiwan and an unexpected surge of pneumococcal vaccination

Abstract

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has had substantial impacts, including disruptions in routine vaccinations. In Taiwan, COVID-19 was relatively controllable, and the reduction in routine vaccinations was not profound. The impact of the pandemic on vaccination remained unclear. We collected vaccination uptake data at our hospital and analyzed the weekly trends of different vaccines. We calculated the monthly number of vaccinations and compared consumption before and during the COVID-19 pandemic (year 2019 vs years 2020 and 2021). Except for self-paid pneumococcal conjugate vaccines (PCV13), a mild (14.6%, p