[Asylum seekers at the reception centre "Oldentruper Hof" Bielefeld: First measles vaccination dose rate of 90.3% after vaccination offer as part of the first medical assessment].

AIM: The aim of this study is to identify demographic data, the "first measles vaccination dose rate after vaccination offer as part of the first medical assessment" (EMID rate) and barriers to measles vaccination among asylum seekers in the reception centre "Oldentruper Hof" Bielefeld (EAE OTH) in 2024.

METHODOLOGY: This study is a retrospective data analysis. Demographic data and vaccination data are taken from the administrative Excel sheets and the vaccination lists of the EAE OTH.

RESULTS

Data from 3213 asylum seekers in the EAE OTH were analysed for the year 2024. Most were young and male. The ten most frequent countries of origin in descending order were: Syria, Afghanistan, Turkey, Iraq, Iran, Serbia, (North) Macedonia, China, Algeria and both Angola und Azerbaijan (there were as many asylum seekers from Angola as from Azerbaijan). 3047 of them were of an age at which they needed to be immunised against measles. 6.3% of the 3047 were able to present a measles immunisation document from outside the EAE OTH. 84.0% of the 3047 had no external proof of measles immunisation and received their first measles vaccination dose in the EAE OTH. The EMID rate was therefore 90.3%. 9.7% had neither an external measles vaccination certificate nor did they receive their first measles vaccination dose at the EAE OTH. The following reasons were identified for this non-vaccination: Refusal by 1.5%, illness by 1.2%, pregnancy by 2.6%, 'other' by 4.3%.

CONCLUSION

Overall, the EMID rate of the EAE OTH in 2024 was found to be high at 90.3%. Efforts must continue to further optimise this vaccination rate. Further studies in the different asylum reception centres and beyond are needed to obtain more research data on asylum seekers in Germany.