Lilia Julieta Gastelum-Arias

COVID-19 vaccination programs continue in child populations. Thus, parents’ attitude towards COVID-19 vaccination of their children is crucial for these strategies to succeed. The present study derives from the application of an online COVID-19 Vaccine Acceptance & Hesitancy Questionnaire (COV-AHQ) in which we measure parent’s hesitancy towards children’s vaccination (section 4 of the COV-AHQ) and other significant factors. A logistic regression analysis with backward stepwise method was used to quantify the associations between factors and parent’s hesitancy. According to the correlation analysis, the most representative factors predicting vaccine hesitancy/acceptance were positive attitude towards vaccination, parents believing that the COVID-19 vaccine will enhance the economic situation of the country, parents actively researching information, having the willingness to obtain the COVID-19 vaccine themselves, and the possibility of their children developing adverse effects. Our findings also showed that parents are highly interested in having their children vaccinated. Nonetheless, parents expressed high levels of concern involving their children in developing adverse effects from the vaccine. In addition, obtaining influenza immunization prompted interest in obtaining the COVID-19 vaccine, and younger-aged parents are much more concerned with having their children vaccinated. Therefore, in order to ensure successful vaccination programs, policymakers and health authorities should design strategies to gain confidence and provide security amongst the population, including giving continuous information about the benefits of vaccination and presenting the frequency of side effects to bring parents on board with vaccinating their children.

COVID-19´s high infection rates around the world have given added pressure in the need of vaccine development. Unfortunately, with rapid vaccine development so does fear arise, from the parental perspective, hesitancy can ascend from several key factors. For which, we have applied an online COVID-19 Vaccine Acceptance & Hesitancy Questionnaire (COV-AHQ). The questionnaire divides into 6 important areas: sociodemographic questions, Section 1 (Danger and contamination), Section 2 (Xenophobia), Section 3 (Fear of vaccinations adverse effects), Section 4 (Parent’s hesitancy towards children’s vaccination), and finally COVID-19 general questions. Our results showed that parents (n=699) who are willing to receive the COVID-19 vaccine are interested in vaccinating their children, as this is a good protective measure for them and the community. Using logistical regression analysis, we showed amongst several variables section 3 (adverse effects) was always present, which acts as a determinant for getting vaccinated. Furthermore, previous influenza vaccination correlates positively with willingness to get vaccinated against COVID-19. The lack of vaccination among children can lead them to contract preventable diseases and contribute to more disease spreading. Therefore, the parent’s attitude towards general vaccination and COVID-19 vaccination is crucial, serving as role models for their children’s future attitude towards vaccination.