Lam Chun Nok, Nicholas William, De La Torre Alejandro, Chan Yanpui, Unger Jennifer B, Sood Neeraj, Hu Howard
Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, USA.
Los Angeles County Department of Public Health, Los Angeles, USA.
AIMS Public Health. 2022 May 25;9(3):482-489. doi: 10.3934/publichealth.2022033. eCollection 2022.
Children age 5-11 became eligible for COVID-19 vaccination in November 2021 in the United States, but vaccine uptake in this age group remains low. Understanding reasons why parents are hesitant to vaccinate their children may provide critical insights to help protect children from COVID-19 infection. This study examines factors associated with parents' willingness to vaccinate their children.
We conducted a cross-sectional survey focusing on the Los Angeles County adult residents between March and June 2021. Our analytic sample focused on a subgroup of participants who self-report having a child. Predictors included parents' vaccination status and beliefs about COVID-19. We used multivariable logistic regression analysis and calculated the predicted probabilities of parents' willingness to vaccinate their children.
Parents (n = 401) who worried about catching the virus, had trust in vaccine development and the COVID-19 vaccine approval process, and vaccinated against COVID-19 were more likely to be willing to vaccinate their children. Socio-economic, racial and ethnic differences were no longer statistically significant in the adjusted model. Predicted probabilities of parents who were willing to vaccine their children were 55% among the vaccinated and 36% among the unvaccinated.
Parents' intent to vaccinate their children is influenced by their perceived severity of the pandemic, trust in the vaccine development process, and their vaccination status, which can be the potential drivers of hesitancy to vaccinate their children.
2021年11月起，美国5至11岁的儿童有资格接种新冠疫苗，但该年龄组的疫苗接种率仍然很低。了解家长对给孩子接种疫苗犹豫不决的原因，可能为帮助保护儿童免受新冠病毒感染提供关键见解。本研究调查了与家长给孩子接种疫苗意愿相关的因素。
我们在2021年3月至6月期间对洛杉矶县的成年居民进行了一项横断面调查。我们的分析样本聚焦于自称有孩子的参与者亚组。预测因素包括家长的疫苗接种状况以及对新冠病毒的看法。我们使用多变量逻辑回归分析，并计算了家长给孩子接种疫苗意愿的预测概率。
担心感染病毒、信任疫苗研发和新冠疫苗审批流程且已接种新冠疫苗的家长（n = 401）更有可能愿意给孩子接种疫苗。在调整后的模型中，社会经济、种族和民族差异不再具有统计学意义。已接种疫苗的家长中愿意给孩子接种疫苗的预测概率为55%，未接种疫苗的家长中这一概率为36%。
家长给孩子接种疫苗的意愿受到他们对疫情严重程度的认知、对疫苗研发过程的信任以及他们自身的疫苗接种状况的影响，这些可能是他们对给孩子接种疫苗犹豫不决的潜在驱动因素。
