Subject(s)
COVID-19 Vaccines , COVID-19 , Immunity, Active , Humans , COVID-19/epidemiology , COVID-19/immunology , COVID-19/prevention & control , Immunity, Active/immunology , Vaccination/statistics & numerical data , COVID-19 Vaccines/immunology , COVID-19 Vaccines/therapeutic use , United States/epidemiologySubject(s)
COVID-19 , Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, U.S. , Humans , Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, U.S./statistics & numerical data , COVID-19/epidemiology , Public Health/statistics & numerical data , Research Design , SARS-CoV-2 , United States/epidemiology , Data AnalysisSubject(s)
Antibodies, Monoclonal , Complement Inactivating Agents , Drug Approval , Antibodies, Monoclonal/administration & dosage , Antibodies, Monoclonal/therapeutic use , United States , United States Food and Drug Administration , Drug Approval/legislation & jurisprudence , Complement Inactivating Agents/administration & dosage , Complement Inactivating Agents/therapeutic use , Hospitalization , Humans , AdultABSTRACT
Introduction: As of October 26, 2022, only 9% of children in the United States aged 6 months to 4 years have received at least one dose of COVID-19 vaccine despite FDA approval since June 17, 2022. Rates are better yet still low for children aged 5 to 11 years as nearly 30% were fully vaccinated as of August 23, 2022. Vaccine hesitancy among adults is one of the major factors affecting low vaccine uptake rates in children against COVID-19, yet most studies examining vaccine hesitancy have targeted school-age and adolescent children. Methods: With the aim of assessing the willingness to recommend the COVID-19 vaccination to children under 5 years compared to children 5 to 12 years of age, a county-wide survey was conducted between January 11 and March 7, 2022, among adults on the United States-Mexico border. Results: Among the 765 responses, 72.5% were female and 42.3% were Latinx. The most significant factor associated with likelihood to recommend the COVID-19 vaccine to children less than 5 years and 5-12 years of age was adult vaccination status. Ordinal logistic regression also indicated that ethnicity, primary language, being a parent, previous COVID-19 infection, and concern about getting COVID-19 in the future were significantly associated with likelihood of COVID-19 vaccine recommendation to children < 5 years and 5-12 years old. Discussion: This study found high consistency among respondents in their willingness to vaccinate children aged < 5 years compared with children aged 5-12 years. Our findings support public health strategies that target adult vaccinations as an avenue to improve childhood vaccinations for young children.