School of Public Health, Imperial College London, London, United Kingdom.
Population, Policy and Practice, Great Ormond Street Institute of Child Health, University College London, London, United Kingdom.
PLoS One. 2024 Aug 13;19(8):e0306484. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0306484. eCollection 2024.
COVID-19 vaccines were key to controlling the pandemic and vaccination has been discussed extensively by the media and the public since 2020. We aimed to explore parents' attitudes towards routine childhood vaccination since COVID-19 and how the pandemic impacted their experiences of getting their child vaccinated.
We used a mixed-methods approach-involving a questionnaire survey followed by focus groups. We partnered with The Mosaic Community Trust, an ethnic minority women's group based in a deprived area of North-West London, United Kingdom (UK) with historically low childhood vaccine uptake. Descriptive findings from the questionnaires were reported and chi-square analyses performed to examine differences by ethnicity. Thematic analysis of the free-text questionnaire responses and focus groups was undertaken, guided by the COM-B model of Capability, Opportunity, and Motivation.
Between Jun-Oct 2022, 518 parents completed the questionnaire (25% from ethnic minorities). Between March-May 2023 we held four focus groups with 22 parents (45% from ethnic minorities). Most parents (>90%) thought routine childhood vaccines for children were important. Over a third (38%) of all parents reported having more questions about childhood vaccines since COVID-19, though among parents belonging to an ethnicity group other than white, 59% said they had more questions compared to those of any white ethnicity group (30%, (p = <0.0001)). Difficulties accessing vaccine appointments were commoner reasons for children's vaccinations being delayed than parents increased concerns about vaccines. Since COVID-19 some parents felt vaccinations were even more important, and a very small minority felt the pandemic had made them mistrust vaccinations.
Following COVID-19, we found parents remain confident in childhood vaccines. However, some parents, particularly from ethnic minority groups may have more questions about childhood vaccines than pre-pandemic. Post COVID-19, to address declining vaccine uptake, parents need easy access to healthcare professionals to answer questions about childhood vaccinations.
新冠疫苗对于控制疫情至关重要，自 2020 年以来，媒体和公众对疫苗接种进行了广泛讨论。我们旨在探讨新冠疫情以来父母对儿童常规疫苗接种的态度，以及疫情如何影响他们为孩子接种疫苗的经历。
我们采用混合方法，包括问卷调查和焦点小组。我们与马赛克社区信托组织合作，该组织是一个少数民族妇女团体，总部位于英国伦敦西北部一个贫困地区，该地区的儿童疫苗接种率历来较低。报告了问卷的描述性发现，并进行了卡方分析，以检查族裔差异。对问卷调查的自由文本回复和焦点小组进行了主题分析，以能力、机会和动机的 COM-B 模型为指导。
2022 年 6 月至 10 月期间，518 名家长完成了问卷（25%来自少数民族）。2023 年 3 月至 5 月期间，我们举办了四次焦点小组，共有 22 名家长参加（45%来自少数民族）。大多数家长（>90%）认为儿童常规疫苗接种很重要。超过三分之一（38%）的家长报告说，自新冠疫情以来，他们对儿童疫苗的问题更多，但在不属于任何白人种族群体的家长中，59%的人表示他们的问题比任何白人种族群体都多（30%，（p = <0.0001））。由于疫苗预约困难，儿童接种疫苗的时间被推迟的情况比家长对疫苗的担忧增加更为常见。自新冠疫情以来，一些家长认为疫苗接种更加重要，极少数家长认为疫情使他们对疫苗接种产生了怀疑。
在新冠疫情之后，我们发现父母仍然对儿童疫苗充满信心。然而，一些家长，尤其是少数民族家长，可能对儿童疫苗有更多的疑问。新冠疫情后，为了解决疫苗接种率下降的问题，家长需要方便地获得医疗保健专业人员的帮助，以解答有关儿童疫苗接种的问题。
