Department of Neurology, Dongyang People's Hospital, Wenzhou Medical University, Zhejiang, China.
Department of Epidemiology, The Second Hospital, Cheeloo College of Medicine, Shandong University, Jinan, China.
Front Public Health. 2021 Nov 5;9:779720. doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2021.779720. eCollection 2021.
With the approval of COVID-19 vaccinations for children and adolescents in China, parental vaccine hesitancy will emerge as a new challenge with regard to the administration of these vaccines. However, little is known regarding this hesitancy as well as regional differences that may exist between parents from Shandong vs. Zhejiang. To assess these issues, an online survey was conducted via a Wenjuanxing platform over the period from July 22 to August 14, 2021. Parents from Shandong and Zhejiang were recruited from Wechat groups and results from a total of 917 subjects were analyzed. Factors evaluated in this survey included socio-demographic variables, parental vaccine hesitancy, Parental Attitudes toward Childhood Vaccines (PACV) domains (behavior, safety and efficacy, general attitudes) and social support. Compared with those from Shandong ( = 443), parents from Zhejiang ( = 474) showed significantly higher prevalence rates of COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy (19.4 vs. 11.7%, = 0.001). Multivariate logistic regression showed that yearly household incomes of ≥120,000 RMB ( = 0.041), medical workers ( = 0.022) and general attitudes of PACV ( = 0.004) were risk factors for vaccine hesitancy among parents from Shandong, while behavior ( = 0.004), safety and efficacy ( < 0.001) and general attitudes of PACV ( = 0.002) were risk factors for parents from Zhejiang. Among parents with vaccine hesitancy ( = 144), concerns over side effects (91.0%) and unknown effects (84.0%) of the COVID-19 vaccine were the most prevalent reasons for hesitancy. Evidence providing proof of vaccine safety (67.4%) and assurance of a low risk of being infected by COVID-19 (60.4%) were the two most effective persuasive factors. Parents from Zhejiang showed a higher prevalence of COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy as compared with those from Shandong. Behavior, safety and efficacy, and general attitudes of PACV were the risk factors associated with this hesitancy in these parents from Zhejiang. Given the identification of the various reasons for parental vaccine hesitancy, different strategies as well as regional adjustments in these strategies will be required for an effective and convincing protocol for childhood vaccinations.
随着中国批准儿童和青少年接种 COVID-19 疫苗，家长对疫苗的犹豫将成为疫苗接种的新挑战。然而，对于这种犹豫以及山东和浙江父母之间可能存在的地区差异，我们知之甚少。为了评估这些问题，我们于 2021 年 7 月 22 日至 8 月 14 日通过问卷星平台进行了一项在线调查。我们从微信群中招募了来自山东和浙江的家长，共分析了 917 名受试者的结果。本研究评估的因素包括社会人口统计学变量、父母对儿童疫苗的态度（PACV）领域（行为、安全性和有效性、一般态度）和社会支持。与来自山东的家长（n=443）相比，来自浙江的家长（n=474）对 COVID-19 疫苗的犹豫率显著更高（19.4% vs. 11.7%， = 0.001）。多变量逻辑回归显示，年收入≥12 万元人民币（ = 0.041）、医务人员（ = 0.022）和 PACV 的一般态度（ = 0.004）是山东家长疫苗犹豫的危险因素，而行为（ = 0.004）、安全性和有效性（ < 0.001）和 PACV 的一般态度（ = 0.002）是浙江家长疫苗犹豫的危险因素。在有疫苗犹豫的家长（n=144）中，对 COVID-19 疫苗副作用（91.0%）和未知效果（84.0%）的担忧是犹豫的最常见原因。疫苗安全性的证据（67.4%）和 COVID-19 感染风险低的保证（60.4%）是两个最有效的说服因素。与来自山东的家长相比，来自浙江的家长对 COVID-19 疫苗的犹豫率更高。行为、安全性和有效性以及 PACV 的一般态度是这些浙江家长产生这种犹豫的危险因素。鉴于确定了父母对疫苗犹豫的各种原因，需要针对儿童疫苗接种制定有效的、有说服力的协议，采取不同的策略，并在这些策略中进行区域性调整。
