A population-based register study of vaccine coverage among children in Greenland

To assess coverage rates of standard childhood vaccinations in Greenland, a geographically isolated and sparsely populated area, and to determine risk factors for low coverage, we performed a register-based cohort study among 596 children from 1993 to 1998 in Sisimiut, Greenland. For vaccines given before the age of 2 years (pertussis 1-3, DT-IPV 1-3, and MMR 1) coverage rates in general were impressively high being on or above levels of Western countries. A risk factor for low coverage was migration. The Greenlandic vaccination model with free vaccinations administered by health workers who systematically call in children at scheduled times seems highly efficient and could be a model for other similar countries.