1. COVID-19 vaccination attitudes, values, intentions: US parents for their children, September 2021.
- Author
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Dudley MZ, Schwartz B, Brewer J, Kan L, Bernier R, Gerber JE, Budigan Ni H, Proveaux TM, Rimal RN, and Salmon DA
- Subjects
- Adolescent, Adult, Child, Child, Preschool, Humans, Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice, Intention, Parents psychology, Vaccination adverse effects, Vaccination psychology, United States, COVID-19 prevention & control, COVID-19 Vaccines adverse effects
- Abstract
Objectives: To compare vaccine-related attitudes and values of parents of children 2-17 years old to other adults, examine intentions to vaccinate their children, and identify factors associated with intending to vaccinate children., Methods: A nationally representative survey was conducted in September 2021 (just before the EUA for children 5-11 years old) using Ipsos KnowledgePanel, a probability-based web panel. The survey measured COVID-19 vaccination status, intentions, attitudes, values, and trust in public health authorities among US adults. Scale response options to survey items were dichotomized, and cross-tabulations and logistic regressions were performed., Results: Parents had lower odds of reporting being vaccinated against COVID-19 than other adults even after adjusting for associated sociodemographic characteristics such as age (aOR: 0.66; 95 %CI: 0.50-0.87). The most prevalent parental concerns about COVID-19 vaccines included the speed of their development (88 %), potential side effects (78 %), suspicion of government (77 %), and suspicion of pharmaceutical companies (72 %). Fewer than half (42 %) of parents intended to vaccinate their children 5-11 years old, while 38 % were uncertain and 20 % were unlikely to ever vaccinate their children. Vaccinated parents had higher odds than unvaccinated parents of intending to vaccinate their children (OR: 675.51; 95 %CI: 106.46-4286.12). Discussions with healthcare providers who encouraged COVID-19 vaccination were positively associated with intent to vaccinate children (OR: 11.29; 95 %CI: 2.60-49.02)., Conclusions: We found parental vaccination and conversations with providers were positively associated with intent to vaccinate children. Decisions about childhood vaccination need to be supported by healthcare providers and a public health system that makes vaccine access and related information equitable and accessible. Vaccination-related decision making should be guided by healthcare providers and provide information about safety and risk to children., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare the following financial interests/personal relationships which may be considered as potential competing interests: Matthew Dudley has received research support from Merck. Daniel Salmon has received research support from Merck and serves on advisory boards for Merck, Janssen, Sanofi and Moderna. Matthew Dudley, Daniel Salmon, and Rajiv Rimal have received funding from the Vaccination Confidence Fund, which is jointly funded by Facebook and Merck. Jennifer Gerber has received support from RTI International. All other authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2023 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)
- Published
- 2023
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