Fact Sheet: Immunizations Among Immigrant and Refugee Students, Colorado School Health Personnel Survey Findings

Immunize Colorado formed the Colorado Refugee and Immigrant Immunization Task Force to identify and address barriers to immunization delivery and uptake among refugee and immigrant populations across the state. In 2018, the Task Force identified a need to support schools in vaccinating refugee and immigrant students and delivered a survey to school health personnel to learn more about the challenges school nurses and health staff face in ensuring immigrant and refugee students meet school vaccine requirements, as well as current practices and/or needs for enhanced support, education and/or resources to address these obstacles. To do this, the Task Force developed a survey and delivered it to school health personnel in Colorado. Survey findings show barriers to vaccine uptake and meeting school vaccine requirements among refugee and immigrant students are primarily related to factors other than vaccine hesitancy or refusal, such as language barriers and vaccine documentation issues. This fact sheet provides a summary of the findings.