Students' age and parental level of education influence COVID-19 vaccination hesitancy.
Eur J Pediatr
; 181(4): 1757-1762, 2022 Apr.
Article
in English
| MEDLINE | ID: covidwho-1588797
ABSTRACT
Widespread vaccination in pursuit of herd immunity has been recognized as the most promising approach to ending the global pandemic of coronavirus disease 19 (COVID-19). The vaccination of children and adolescents has been extensively debated and the first COVID-19 vaccine is now approved in European countries for children aged > 12 years of age. Our study investigates vaccination hesitancy in a cohort of German secondary school students. We assessed 903 students between age 9 and 20 in the period between 17 May 2021 and 30 June 2021. 68.3% (n = 617) reported intention to undergo COVID-19 vaccination, while 7% (n = 62) did not want to receive the vaccine and 15% (n = 135) were not yet certain. Age and parental level of education influenced COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy. Children under the age of 16 as well as students whose parents had lower education levels showed significantly higher vaccine hesitancy. Conclusion:
Identifying subsets with higher vaccination hesitancy is important for targeting public information campaigns in support of immunization. What is Known ⢠The willingness to receive COVID-19 vaccination among adults in Europe is about 70%, but data for children and adolescents is lacking. ⢠The lack of immunization in younger cohorts represents a significant barrier to achieving herd immunity, and also leaves children and adolescents vulnerable to acute and long-term morbidity from natural COVID-19 infections. What is New ⢠Intention-to-vaccinate among children and adolescents is high (~ 70%); conversely, vaccination hesitancy is low. ⢠Age and parental level of education influenced COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy among children and adolescents.Keywords
Full text:
Available
Collection:
International databases
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
COVID-19 Vaccines
/
COVID-19
Type of study:
Cohort study
/
Observational study
/
Prognostic study
/
Randomized controlled trials
Topics:
Vaccines
Limits:
Adolescent
/
Adult
/
Child
/
Humans
/
Young adult
Language:
English
Journal:
Eur J Pediatr
Year:
2022
Document Type:
Article
Affiliation country:
S00431-021-04343-1
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