IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/plo/pone00/0276160.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The influence of place on COVID-19 vaccine coverage in Alberta: A multilevel analysis

Author

Listed:
  • Yuba Raj Paudel
  • Crystal Du
  • Shannon Elizabeth MacDonald

Abstract

While there is evidence of urban/rural disparities in COVID-19 vaccination coverage, there is limited data on the influence of other place-based variables. In this cross-sectional study, we analyzed population-based linked administrative health data (publicly-funded health insurance database and province-wide immunization repository) to examine vaccination coverage for 3,945,103 residents aged 12 years and above in Alberta, Canada. We used multilevel logistic regression to examine the association of vaccination coverage with various place-based variables. Furthermore, we combined information on vaccine coverage and neighborhood level COVID-19 risk to categorize forward sortation areas (FSAs) into six categories. After 4 months of widely available COVID-19 vaccine, coverage varied widely between rural and urban areas (58% to 73%) and between geographic health authority zones (55.8% to 72.8%). Residents living in neighborhoods with lower COVID-19 disease incidence had the lowest vaccination coverage (63.2%), while coverage in higher incidence neighborhoods ranged from 68.3% to 71.9%. The multilevel logistic regression model indicated that residence in metro (adjusted odds ratio [aOR] 1.37; 95% CI: 1.31–1.42) and urban areas (aOR 1.11; 95% CI: 1.08–1.14) was associated with higher vaccine coverage than residence in rural areas. Similarly, residence in Edmonton, Calgary, and South health zones was associated with higher vaccine coverage compared to residence in Central zone. Higher income neighborhoods reported higher vaccine coverage than the lowest-income neighborhoods, and the highest COVID-19 risk neighborhoods reported higher vaccine coverage than the lowest risk neighborhoods (aOR 1.52; 95% CI: 1.12–2.05). In the first four months of wider vaccine availability in Alberta, COVID-19 vaccine coverage varied according to various place-based characteristics. Vaccine distribution strategies need to consider place-based variables for program prioritization and delivery.

Suggested Citation

  • Yuba Raj Paudel & Crystal Du & Shannon Elizabeth MacDonald, 2022. "The influence of place on COVID-19 vaccine coverage in Alberta: A multilevel analysis," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 17(10), pages 1-12, October.
  • Handle: RePEc:plo:pone00:0276160
    DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0276160
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0276160
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0276160&type=printable
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1371/journal.pone.0276160?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:plo:pone00:0276160. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: plosone (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/ .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.