Harmain Zain Ul, Alkubaisi Noorah A, Hasnain Muhammad, Salman Muhammad, Baraka Mohamed A, Mustafa Zia Ul, Khan Yusra Habib, Mallhi Tauqeer Hussain, Meyer Johanna C, Godman Brian
Department of Medicines, Tehsil Head Quarter (THQ) Hospital, Fortabbas 62020, Pakistan.
Department of Botany and Microbiology, College of Science, King Saud University, Riyadh 11451, Saudi Arabia.
Healthcare (Basel). 2023 Aug 23;11(17):2378. doi: 10.3390/healthcare11172378.
There are typically lower COVID-19 vaccination rates among developing versus higher-income countries, which is exacerbated by greater vaccine hesitancy. However, despite the increasing evidence of safety, parents are still reluctant to vaccinate their children against COVID-19. This is a concern in countries experiencing successive waves, such as Pakistan. Consequently, the objective of this study was to gain better understanding and practice regarding parents vaccinating their children against COVID-19 in Pakistan. A cross-sectional study was conducted to measure parents' attitudes towards vaccinating their children. In total, 451 parents participated in the study, giving a response rate of 70.4%; 67.4% were female, 43.2% belonged to the 40-49 years age group, and 47.7% had three children, with 73% of parents fully immunized against COVID-19. We found that 84.7% of parents did not consider COVID-19 to be a very serious issue, and 53.9% considered that their children were not at high risk of COVID-19. Overall, only a quarter of the study participants had currently vaccinated their children and 11.8% were willing to vaccinate their children in the near future. Parents who had a better knowledge of COVID-19, secondary or higher education, children who had chronic illness, and those parents whose children had been infected with COVID-19 were more likely to have their children vaccinated. The most common reasons for vaccine hesitancy were "my child is not at high risk of COVID-19" (61%) and "I am afraid to put/inject a foreign object inside my child's body" (52.2%). Overall, vaccine acceptance was low among the parents of the children. Those parents with higher education, chronic illnesses, greater knowledge of COVID-19 and its vaccines, and those whose children had been infected with COVID-19 were significantly ( < 0.001) inclined towards vaccinating their children. Effective campaigns as well as awareness sessions are needed to address misinformation and reduce vaccine hesitancy.
与高收入国家相比,发展中国家的新冠疫苗接种率通常较低,而疫苗犹豫情绪加剧了这种情况。然而,尽管越来越多的证据表明疫苗安全,但家长们仍然不愿让孩子接种新冠疫苗。在经历多轮疫情的国家,如巴基斯坦,这是一个令人担忧的问题。因此,本研究的目的是更好地了解巴基斯坦家长让孩子接种新冠疫苗的情况并付诸实践。我们开展了一项横断面研究,以衡量家长对孩子接种疫苗的态度。共有451名家长参与了该研究,回复率为70.4%;其中67.4%为女性,43.2%属于40 - 49岁年龄组,47.7%育有三个孩子,73%的家长已完成新冠疫苗全程接种。我们发现,84.7%的家长不认为新冠是一个非常严重的问题,53.9%的家长认为他们的孩子感染新冠的风险不高。总体而言,目前只有四分之一的研究参与者为孩子接种了疫苗,11.8%的家长愿意在不久的将来为孩子接种。对新冠有更好了解、接受过中等或高等教育、孩子患有慢性病以及孩子曾感染过新冠的家长,更有可能让孩子接种疫苗。疫苗犹豫最常见的原因是“我的孩子感染新冠的风险不高”(61%)和“我不敢往孩子体内注射异物”(52.2%)。总体而言,孩子家长的疫苗接受度较低。受过高等教育、孩子患有慢性病、对新冠及其疫苗有更多了解以及孩子曾感染过新冠的家长,明显(<0.001)更倾向于让孩子接种疫苗。需要开展有效的宣传活动和提高认识的会议,以解决错误信息并减少疫苗犹豫情绪。