Would Parents Get Their Children Vaccinated Against SARS-CoV-2? Rate and Predictors of Vaccine Hesitancy According to a Survey over 5000 Families from Bologna, Italy

Marco Montalti,Michela Stillo,Flavia Rallo,Chiara Reno,Laura Dallolio,Davide Resi,Paolo Pandolfi,Maria Pia Fantini,Federica Guaraldi,Lorena Squillace,Paola Perrone,Giulia Po,Lapo Bartoli,Davide Gori

doi:10.3390/vaccines9040366

Abstract

In the near future, COVID-19 vaccine efficacy trials in larger cohorts may offer the possibility to implement child and adolescent vaccination. The opening of the vaccination for these strata may play a key role in order to limit virus circulation, infection spreading towards the most vulnerable subjects, and plan safe school reopening. Vaccine hesitancy (VH) could limit the ability to reach the coverage threshold required to ensure herd immunity. The aim of this study was to investigate the prevalence and determinants of VH among parents/guardians toward a potentially available COVID-19 vaccination for children and adolescents. An online survey was performed in parents/guardians of children aged <18 years old, living in Bologna. Overall, 5054 questionnaires were collected. A vast majority (60.4%) of the parents/guardians were inclined to vaccinate, while 29.6% were still considering the opportunity, and 9.9% were hesitant. Highest vaccine hesitancy rates were detected in female parents/guardians of children aged 6–10 years, ≤29 years old, with low educational level, relying on information found in the web/social media, and disliking mandatory vaccination policies. Although preliminary, these data could help in designing target strategies to implement adherence to a vaccination campaign, with special regard to web-based information.

Highlights

Since March 2020, most governments around the world have closed schools and other educational institutions in an attempt to contain the diffusion of the COVID-19 pandemic, with an estimated dramatic impact on the education of over 850 million children and youths [1,2,3,4]
Fifty-four had to be excluded as participants denied the consent to the treatment of personal data, and seven for non-compliant data, leaving 4993 questionnaires available for data collection and analysis
We report the results of a survey performed in a large cohort of parents/guardians assessing the rate of vaccine hesitancy (VH) toward potential COVID-19 vaccination in their children aged 0–18 years old, and its determinants

Summary

Introduction

Since March 2020, most governments around the world have closed schools and other educational institutions in an attempt to contain the diffusion of the COVID-19 pandemic, with an estimated dramatic impact on the education of over 850 million children and youths [1,2,3,4]. Epidemiological data show that people aged 1–18 years tend to develop asymptomatic/paucisymptomatic disease, and, overall, present a significantly more favorable outcome than adults [5,6,7]. With the emergence of new variants, the risk of disease transmission and outcomes in children deserve close surveillance [5,6,7]. In Italy, school activities were suspended on 4 March 2020, based on the epidemiological evolution and the progressive viral spread on the national territory. The initial suspension turned into a protracted closure due to the subsequent lockdown of the whole country [8], and the educational services resumed their activities only in mid-September of

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