2020 Hepatitis B birth dose and timely vaccination goals: Are we there yet? Available to Purchase

Introduction: Hepatitis B vaccination protects newborns from contracting a virus that may lead to chronic infection, liver failure or death. Ensuring administration of the vaccine within 12 hours of birth or prior to discharge minimizes the newborns’ opportunity to contract the virus. In the US, approximately 70% of infants receive the birth dose of Hepatitis B vaccine (i.e., within 3 days of birth). Phase 1 of our quality improvement project demonstrated significant improvement in Hepatitis B birth dose vaccination rates (from 52 to 70%) and timely vaccination rates (from 19 to 40%). Interventions implemented were hospital staff and parent education, along with revision of the hospital birth dose policy. The second (ongoing) phase aims to reach the Healthy 2020 goal (>85%) vaccination rate. Objectives: We aim to increase the hepatitis B birth dose vaccination rate to >85% over three years. We also aim to increase the timely vaccination rate in...