National, state, and urban area vaccination coverage levels among children aged 19-35 months--United States, July 1996-June 1997.

The National Immunization Survey (NIS) is an ongoing survey that provides national estimates of vaccination coverage among children aged 19-35 months based on data for the most recent 12 months for each of the 50 states, the District of Columbia, and 27 other selected urban areas. CDC initiated the NIS in April 1994 to monitor vaccination coverage levels as part of the Childhood Immunization Initiative (CII), a national strategy to ensure high vaccination coverage of children during the first 2 years of life. This report presents NIS findings for July 1996-June 1997, which indicate that vaccination levels among U.S. children aged 19-35 months remain the highest ever recorded. This report also includes the first annualized estimates for varicella vaccine coverage.