Parental COVID-19 Vaccine Hesitancy in the United States.
Public Health Rep
; 137(6): 1162-1169, 2022.
Article
in English
| MEDLINE | ID: covidwho-1968452
ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE:
Little is known about parents' willingness to vaccinate their children against COVID-19. We assessed the prevalence of vaccine hesitancy among parents with a child or adolescent aged 12-15 years, examined predictors of parents' COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy, their reasons for resisting a pediatric COVID-19 vaccine, and the correlation between parents' intentions to vaccinate their child and the acceptance of a vaccine for themselves.METHODS:
We conducted a national online survey of 637 parents of a child or adolescent aged 12-15 years in March 2021, before COVID-19 vaccines had been approved for this age group. We assessed univariate predictors of vaccine hesitancy, and we used logistic regression analysis to assess independent effects of variables on vaccine hesitancy.RESULTS:
Nearly one-third (28.9%; 95% CI, 25.5%-32.5%) of respondents reported pediatric vaccine hesitancy. Vaccine-hesitant parents were less knowledgeable about vaccines, more accepting of vaccine conspiracies, and less worried about COVID-19 risks to their child's health than vaccine-accepting parents were. Vaccine hesitancy was higher among female (vs male), single (vs married/living as married), older (vs younger), low income (vs high income), non-college graduates (vs college graduates), and Republican (vs Democrat) parents. The primary concerns expressed by vaccine-hesitant parents pertained to vaccine safety rather than vaccine effectiveness. One-quarter of vaccine-hesitant parents preferred that their child obtain immunity through infection rather than vaccination. Non-vaccine-hesitant parents' reasons for vaccinating focused on protecting the health of their child and others. Childhood COVID-19 vaccine acceptance was strongly associated with parents' intentions to get the vaccine for themselves.CONCLUSION:
A messaging strategy for effective public health interventions that includes educating the public about vaccination, countering misinformation about vaccine development and safety, and stressing the safety of approved COVID-19 vaccines may boost vaccine acceptance among vaccine-hesitant parents.Keywords
Full text:
Available
Collection:
International databases
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
Vaccines
/
COVID-19
Type of study:
Observational study
/
Prognostic study
Topics:
Vaccines
Limits:
Adolescent
/
Child
/
Female
/
Humans
/
Male
Country/Region as subject:
North America
Language:
English
Journal:
Public Health Rep
Year:
2022
Document Type:
Article
Affiliation country:
00333549221114346
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