Abstract
Objectives: To quantify parental acceptance of the COVID-19 vaccine and assess the vaccine hesitancy (VH) for COVID-19 vs. childhood vaccines.Methods: Eight vaccine hesitancy scale (VHS) items, adopted from WHO's Strategic Advisory Group of Immunization (SAGE), were used to assess VH for COVID-19 vaccine vs. routine childhood vaccines. We distributed the online survey to parents with the commence of the national childhood COVID-19 vaccination program in Saudi Arabia.Results: Among 3,167 parents, 47.6% are decided to vaccinate their children against COVID-19. The most common reasons for refusal were inadequate safety information (69%) and worry about side effects (60.6%). Parents have a significantly greater positive attitudes toward children's routine vaccines vs. the COVID-19 vaccine, with higher mean VHS (±SD) = 2.98 ± 0.58 vs. 2.63 ± 0.73, respectively (p-value < 0.001). Parents agreed more that routine childhood vaccines are more essential and effective as compared to the COVID-19 vaccine (Cohen's D: 0.946, and 0.826, consecutively; T-test p-value < 0.00). There is more parental anxiety about serious side effects of the COVID-19 vaccine vs. routine childhood vaccines (Cohen's D = 0.706, p-value < 0.001). Parents who relied on the Ministry of Health information were more predicted (OR = 1.28, p-value = 0.035) to intend to vaccinate as opposed to those who used the WHO website (OR = 0.47, −53%, p-value < 0.001). In a multivariate logistic regression analysis, the factors associated with intention to vaccinate children were parents who received COVID-19 vaccine, older parents, having children aged 12–18, and parents with lower education levels.Conclusions: Significant proportion of parents are hesitant about the COVID-19 vaccine because they are less confident in its effectiveness, safety, and whether it is essential for their children. Relying on the national official healthcare authority's website for the source of information was associated with increased acceptance of childhood COVID-19 vaccination. As parental intention to vaccinate children against COVID-19 is suboptimal, healthcare authorities could boost vaccine uptake by campaigns targeting hesitant parents.
Highlights
Coronavirus Disease 2019 (Covid-19) was declared a global pandemic on March 11, 2020 [1, 2]
It was quickly recognized that vaccine development and deployment were among the most promising intervention strategies to mitigate the spread of Covid-19 [3]
The wording was slightly revised from the original Vaccine Hesitancy Scale (VHS) to tackle both the Covid-19 vaccine and childhood vaccination
Summary
Coronavirus Disease 2019 (Covid-19) was declared a global pandemic on March 11, 2020 [1, 2]. It was quickly recognized that vaccine development and deployment were among the most promising intervention strategies to mitigate the spread of Covid-19 [3]. Children’s infections represent around 14% of the Covid-19 cases [5]. As herd immunity needed to halt the pandemic is estimated to be 75%, global healthcare authorities implemented various strategies that are best tailored to their society needs and availability of vaccines to maximize vaccine delivery for all ages [8]. Though several Covid-19 vaccines were developed and deployed during the past year, healthcare authorities cannot curb the oandemic without widespread vaccine uptake [9]
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