Wesfarmers Centre of Vaccines and Infectious Diseases, Telethon Kids Institute, Perth, WA, Australia.
School of Social Sciences, The University of Western Australia, Perth, WA, Australia.
BMC Public Health. 2023 Sep 11;23(1):1764. doi: 10.1186/s12889-023-16645-0.
Australian children and adolescents were among the last local cohorts offered COVID-19 vaccines. Despite promising initial uptake, coverage subsequently plateaued, requiring further efforts to improve access and build parents' recognition of the importance of COVID-19 vaccination. We sought to understand West Australian (WA) parents' willingness to vaccinate their children to inform strategies for improving uptake at the time in which they were becoming eligible.
We undertook in-depth qualitative interviews with 30 parents of children aged 5-17 years from June - December 2021. During this period, children aged 12-15 years became eligible for vaccination; children aged 5-11 years became eligible shortly thereafter. Data were thematically analysed in NVivo.
Most parents intended on vaccinating their children once eligible. Parents sought to protect their children, to protect the community, to resume travel, and to get back to "normal". They reflected that vaccination against key infectious threats is a routine activity in childhood. Some were concerned about the vaccine, particularly mRNA vaccines, being new technology or impacting fertility. "Wait-awhiles" wanted to see what other parents would do or were delaying until they felt that there was a higher risk of COVID-19 in WA. Most parents of younger children wanted their child to be vaccinated at the general practice clinic due to familiarity and convenience. Parents were particularly eager for clear and consistent messaging about vaccination of children and adolescents, including safety, importance, scientific evidence, and personal stories.
For future pandemic vaccinations pertaining to children, governments and health officials need to address parents' concerns and meet their preferences for the delivery of the vaccine program to children and adolescents.
澳大利亚的儿童和青少年是最后一批接种 COVID-19 疫苗的本地群体之一。尽管最初的接种率很高，但随后接种率趋于平稳，需要进一步努力来提高接种率，并让家长认识到 COVID-19 疫苗接种的重要性。我们旨在了解西澳大利亚州（WA）父母愿意为孩子接种疫苗的意愿，为当时提高接种率的策略提供信息。
我们在 2021 年 6 月至 12 月期间对 30 名 5-17 岁儿童的家长进行了深入的定性访谈。在此期间，12-15 岁的儿童有资格接种疫苗；此后不久，5-11 岁的儿童也有资格接种疫苗。数据在 NVivo 中进行主题分析。
大多数家长打算在有资格接种疫苗时为孩子接种疫苗。家长们希望保护孩子、保护社区、恢复旅行并恢复“正常”。他们认为接种针对主要传染病的疫苗是儿童时期的常规活动。一些人担心疫苗，特别是 mRNA 疫苗，是新技术或会影响生育能力。“观望者”希望看到其他家长怎么做，或者等到他们觉得 WA 地区 COVID-19 风险更高时再做。大多数年幼孩子的家长希望孩子在常规医疗诊所接种疫苗，因为那里熟悉且方便。家长们特别渴望获得关于为儿童和青少年接种疫苗的清晰一致的信息，包括疫苗的安全性、重要性、科学证据和个人故事。
对于未来与儿童相关的大流行疫苗接种，政府和卫生官员需要解决家长的担忧，并满足他们对为儿童和青少年提供疫苗接种计划的偏好。
