Does Migration Affect a Child’s Immunization Coverage? A Cross-Sectional Analytical Study of India

Introduction: India’s immunization initiatives are among the largest globally, characterized by a substantial birth cohort of 27 million children annually, and have achieved significant progress in increasing coverage through the UIP. However, there are still challenges that persist, and multiple determinants contribute to the existing challenges; migration is one of them. Migration has always been a key driver of socio-economic and demographic changes, particularly in low and middle-income countries (LMICs). Specifically, there is a need to better understand the vulnerabilities of immunization among recent migrants. To examine this, the study explores the association between a mother’s recent migration and the full immunization coverage of children aged 12–23 months in India. Data & Methods: Our study utilized data from the National Family Health Survey-5 (2019–21). The outcome variable of interest in this study is the full immunization among children aged 12–23 months (receipt of all basic vaccinations). The primary predictor variable in this study was recent maternal migration, defined as the mother’s duration of residence at the current place of residence. We used a series of multivariate logistic regression models to examine the relationship between full Immunization among children and maternal migration status, with some data restrictions in the models. Results: The results show a 17 percentage-point difference in full immunization between children of migrant and non-migrant mothers. The adjusted odds ratios of children of mothers who had recently migrated had significantly lower odds of full immunization (aOR: 0.39, 95% CI: 0.35–0.43) compared to children whose mothers had not recently migrated. Even across the household wealth quintile and social groups, the recent migration of the mother was associated with being less likely to be fully immunized among children 12–23 months. Conclusions: The findings of this study provide significant quantitative evidence that recent migration (less than 3 years) of mother is a key factor influencing Immunization coverage and is a predictor of full immunization among children aged 12–23 months in India. The recent migration was consistently linked with lower odds of full immunization coverage across different household wealth levels and social groups. This study suggests that children of recently migrated mother are a vulnerable subgroup of the population at risk of not receiving full immunization among children aged 12–23 months.