Abstract
<h3>Statement of Purpose</h3> Underrepresented minorities experienced disproportionate rates of COVID-19 disease severity and mortality. The Hispanic population is three times as likely to get COVID-19 infection as their white counterparts because of disproportionate occupations with increased viral exposure such as frontline, essential, and critical infrastructure workers; they live in multigenerational households and have lower levels of access to healthcare. Given the significant vulnerability, this study seeks to understand the perspectives of Hispanic caregivers with children towards a COVID-19 vaccine. The high COVID-19 vaccine effectiveness rates providing the ultimate pandemic solution. Healthy individuals have lower injury risks and more likely to return to full health when injured. Current vaccine-hesitant groups are different from traditional antivaccers. We set out to explore Hispanic caregivers’ perceptions of COVID-19 vaccine safety. <h3>Methods/Approach</h3> Caregivers who sought pediatric care from the local urban Community Clinic responded to a telephone survey. Participants verbally consented to a baseline and 6 month follow up survey to determine public education campaigns’ impact. Inclusion criteria were caregivers who: a) were >= 18 years, b) sought pediatric care for their children aged 0–17 years at well visits, nurse-only flu shot visits and specialty care for ENT and allergy visits from November 1, 2020 through February 28, 2021 and, c) were child’s primary caregiver. We analyzed survey frequencies. <h3>Results</h3> Sixty maternal caregivers enrolled: 6.7% African American (AA) and 93.3% Spanish-speaking (Hispanic). This data analysis excluded AA participants, N=56. 70% of the households had >=occupants, 14% had some college or higher level of education. 40.7% of their children were doing virtual school, 37% in person and 22.2% hybrid. 90.6% of families used Medicaid and 43.4% WIC services. While majority of mothers agreed that vaccines in general were safe (60%), and useful in preventing serious disease (91%), only 49.1% and 45.6% agreed that COVID-19 vaccines were safe and effective respectively. 61.4% agreed that government should not force people to get vaccinated or require vaccination for children to attend childcare/school (42.8%). While 68.4% believed that COVID-19 vaccine side effects were minimal, 40.3% believed they were significant. 85.9% agreed that children got a correct number of vaccines while 23.2% felt they got too many. Fewer mothers agreed that vaccines conflicted with their beliefs that children should only get exposed to natural products, 69.5% disagreed. Over 90% trusted vaccine information and could openly discuss vaccine concerns with their pediatricians. While 34% disagreed that COVID-19 will cause sterilization, 53.6% did not feel they could evaluate this statement. 59% would not participate in a COVID-19 clinical trial, only 18.5% would. <h3>Conclusion</h3> Hispanic parents trust their pediatricians, believe vaccines provide significant disease protection and are safe. Compared to other vaccines, there was hesitancy noted with the COVID-19 vaccine, although indicated some willingness to vaccinate children against COVID-19 when available. Future exploration of parental autonomy in decision-making of vaccine acceptance or rejection. <h3>Significance</h3> Hispanic parents will adhere to injury prevention guidelines and their pediatricians’ recommendations, especially if they get education and have their concerns addressed.
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