Factors Affecting the Utilization of Immunization Services Effectiveness Among Children Aged Under Five Years in Bor County

Abstract

Background: Immunization is critical for safeguarding children against infectious illnesses, but vaccination rates have been unchanged over the past decade. Africa falls behind in vaccination access, with one in every five children not receiving all required immunizations. Public health initiatives should enhance access to healthcare facilities, ANC visits, sociocultural exposure, maternal education, and socioeconomic demographics to promote immunization consumption. Between 2015 and 2020, regular immunization coverage in South Sudan was severely low, influencing morbidity and mortality.

Method: This mixed-methods study used a cross-sectional design and a purposive sample of pregnant mothers, cold chain officers, health workers, vaccinators, and social mobilizers. A questionnaire was used for quantitative data, while a mobile phone was used for qualitative data. SPSS 25 was used to analyze data at Bor State Hospital and 17 Chains Cold Institutes.

Result: In Bor County, the study discovered 71.9% immunization coverage and 12.1% negative outcomes. Strong determinants of coverage include contextual variables, socioeconomic factors, health factors, and vaccine-specific factors.

Conclusion: The perceived vaccine-related worries in this study were strongly correlated with the Bor vaccination rate. A common misconception was that the use of immunization services was significantly impacted by the lack of reliable new vaccines. It is important to have a robust vaccination supply chain, and these supply chains should work to improve fairness in service delivery. It is also obvious that all vaccination clinics must prevent vaccine stockouts and have efficient storage areas, tools, and equipment. This is because the unreliability of the vaccine supply chain and program delivery was related to the observed immunization rates, there is a 96% possibility that service delivery would be delayed when stockouts happen in healthcare facilities.