Department of Communication, University of California, Davis, Davis, CA, USA.
Public Health Rep. 2022 Nov-Dec;137(6):1162-1169. doi: 10.1177/00333549221114346. Epub 2022 Aug 2.
Little is known about parents' willingness to vaccinate their children against COVID-19. We assessed the prevalence of vaccine hesitancy among parents with a child or adolescent aged 12-15 years, examined predictors of parents' COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy, their reasons for resisting a pediatric COVID-19 vaccine, and the correlation between parents' intentions to vaccinate their child and the acceptance of a vaccine for themselves.
We conducted a national online survey of 637 parents of a child or adolescent aged 12-15 years in March 2021, before COVID-19 vaccines had been approved for this age group. We assessed univariate predictors of vaccine hesitancy, and we used logistic regression analysis to assess independent effects of variables on vaccine hesitancy.
Nearly one-third (28.9%; 95% CI, 25.5%-32.5%) of respondents reported pediatric vaccine hesitancy. Vaccine-hesitant parents were less knowledgeable about vaccines, more accepting of vaccine conspiracies, and less worried about COVID-19 risks to their child's health than vaccine-accepting parents were. Vaccine hesitancy was higher among female (vs male), single (vs married/living as married), older (vs younger), low income (vs high income), non-college graduates (vs college graduates), and Republican (vs Democrat) parents. The primary concerns expressed by vaccine-hesitant parents pertained to vaccine safety rather than vaccine effectiveness. One-quarter of vaccine-hesitant parents preferred that their child obtain immunity through infection rather than vaccination. Non-vaccine-hesitant parents' reasons for vaccinating focused on protecting the health of their child and others. Childhood COVID-19 vaccine acceptance was strongly associated with parents' intentions to get the vaccine for themselves.
A messaging strategy for effective public health interventions that includes educating the public about vaccination, countering misinformation about vaccine development and safety, and stressing the safety of approved COVID-19 vaccines may boost vaccine acceptance among vaccine-hesitant parents.
对于父母对其 12-15 岁子女接种 COVID-19 疫苗的意愿，目前知之甚少。我们评估了有 12-15 岁儿童或青少年的父母中疫苗犹豫的流行率，考察了父母对 COVID-19 疫苗犹豫的预测因素、他们拒绝小儿 COVID-19 疫苗的原因，以及父母打算为子女接种疫苗与他们自己接受疫苗之间的相关性。
我们在 2021 年 3 月对全国 637 名有 12-15 岁儿童或青少年的父母进行了一项全国性的在线调查，此时 COVID-19 疫苗尚未获准用于该年龄组。我们评估了疫苗犹豫的单变量预测因素，并使用逻辑回归分析评估了变量对疫苗犹豫的独立影响。
近三分之一（28.9%；95%置信区间，25.5%-32.5%）的受访者报告了小儿疫苗犹豫。与疫苗接受者的父母相比，疫苗犹豫者对疫苗的了解较少，对疫苗阴谋的接受程度较高，对 COVID-19 对其子女健康风险的担忧程度较低。女性（而非男性）、单身（而非已婚/同居已婚）、年龄较大（而非较小）、收入较低（而非较高）、非大学毕业生（而非大学毕业生）和共和党（而非民主党）的父母疫苗犹豫率更高。疫苗犹豫者父母表达的主要担忧是疫苗的安全性而不是疫苗的有效性。四分之一的疫苗犹豫者父母希望他们的孩子通过感染而不是接种疫苗获得免疫力。非疫苗犹豫者父母为孩子接种疫苗的原因主要是为了保护孩子和他人的健康。儿童 COVID-19 疫苗的接受度与父母为自己接种疫苗的意愿密切相关。
有效的公共卫生干预措施的信息传递策略包括向公众宣传疫苗接种知识，反驳疫苗开发和安全性方面的错误信息，并强调已批准的 COVID-19 疫苗的安全性，这可能会提高疫苗犹豫者父母的疫苗接受度。
