Sociodemographic Variation in Early Uptake of COVID-19 Vaccine and Parental Intent and Attitudes Toward Vaccination of Children Aged 6 Months-4 Years - United States, July 1-29, 2022.

ABSTRACT

COVID-19 vaccines are safe and effective for infants and young children, and on June 18, 2022, CDC recommended COVID-19 vaccination for infants and children (children) aged 6 months-4 years (1,2). As of November 9, 2022, based on administrative data reported to CDC,* 5.9% of children aged <2 years and 8.8% of children aged 2-4 years had received ≥1 dose. To better understand reasons for low coverage among children aged <5 years, CDC analyzed data from 4,496 National Immunization Survey-Child COVID Module (NIS-CCM) interviews conducted during July 1-29, 2022, to examine variation in receipt of ≥1 dose of COVID-19 vaccine and parental intent to vaccinate children aged 6 months-4 years by sociodemographic characteristics and by parental beliefs about COVID-19; type of vaccination place was also reported. Among children aged 6 months-4 years, 3.5% were vaccinated; 59.3% were unvaccinated, but the parent was open to vaccination; and 37.2% were unvaccinated, and the parent was reluctant to vaccinate their child. Openness to vaccination was higher among parents of Hispanic or Latino (Hispanic) (66.2%), non-Hispanic Black or African American (Black) (61.1%), and non-Hispanic Asian (Asian) (83.1%) children than among parents of non-Hispanic White (White) (52.9%) children and lower among parents of children in rural areas (45.8%) than among parents of children in urban areas (64.1%). Parental confidence in COVID-19 vaccine safety and receipt of a provider recommendation for COVID-19 vaccination were lower among unvaccinated than vaccinated children. COVID-19 vaccine recommendations from a health care provider, along with dissemination of information about the safety of COVID-19 vaccine by trusted persons, could increase vaccination coverage among young children.