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March 25, 2002

U.S. IMMUNIZATION NEWS

"Tennessee Immunization Rates for Children Up in 2001 with 88.2 Percent Effort" Memphis Commercial Appeal (TN) (www.gomemphis.com) (03/23/02) P. B3

Tennessee Governor Don Sundquist announced Friday that 88.2 percent of two-year-olds in the state were vaccinated against measles, mumps, rubella, pertussis, tetanus, diphtheria, and polio last year.  Immunization coverage for Tennessee's toddlers was 87.7 percent in 2000.  The increased rate last year is attributed in part to a stepped-up campaign in 1995 by TennCare, a state program for 1.4 million poor and uninsured people. Sundquist noted as well that the vaccination ratio of African-American children to white children is also becoming more balanced as well, with 85.5 percent of African-American children immunized in 2001, in contrast to 88.7 percent of white children.

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