Abstract
.Background:As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to threaten public health, the vaccination of children against the disease appears to be a key factor to control the pandemic. Our aim was to investigate the prevalence of parents who have vaccinated their children against the COVID-19 and the factors influencing this decision.Materials and Methods:We conducted a web-based cross-sectional study in Greece during the first week of September 2021. The study questionnaire was distributed through social media and a convenience sample was obtained. Only parents with children aged 12–17 years old could participate in the study. We collected socio-demographic data of parents and we measured their attitudes towards vaccination and COVID-19 pandemic.Results:Study population included 656 parents. Regarding vaccination, 27.1% of parents had their children vaccinated against the COVID-19, while almost all children had a complete vaccination history (98.9%). The most important reasons for decline of COVID-19 vaccination were doubts about the safety and effectiveness of COVID-19 vaccines (45.3%) and fear of side effects (36.6%). Regarding the information about the COVID-19 vaccines, parents showed more trust in family doctors than in scientists and the government. We found that increased parents’ age, increased trust in COVID-19 vaccines, and positive attitude of parents towards vaccination had a positive effect on children’s vaccination.Conclusions:Understanding the factors influencing parents’ decision to vaccinate their children against the COVID-19 is crucial to increase the COVID-19 vaccination coverage rate. Implementation of public health policies is necessary to spread knowledge about COVID-19 vaccines and to regain vaccine confidence.
Highlights
The Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic continues to cause several problems at the individual, social and economic level, from the beginning of 2021 there are several vaccines with proven safety and efficacy [1,2,3,4]
27.1% of parents had their children vaccinated against the COVID-19, while almost all children had a complete vaccination history (98.9%)
We found that increased parents’ age, increased trust in COVID-19 vaccines, and positive attitude of parents towards vaccination had a positive effect on children’s vaccination
Summary
The Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic continues to cause several problems at the individual, social and economic level, from the beginning of 2021 there are several vaccines with proven safety and efficacy [1,2,3,4]. Successful management of the pandemic requires vaccination of the general population at a high rate, which may be as high as 80% [5]. In recent years there has been an increase in the general population’s negative attitude towards vaccination. As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to threaten public health, the vaccination of children against the disease appears to be a key factor to control the pandemic. Our aim was to investigate the prevalence of parents who have vaccinated their children against the COVID-19 and the factors influencing this decision
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