Attitudes and perceptions of mothers towards childhood vaccination in Greece: lessons to improve the childhood COVID-19 vaccination acceptance

Abstract

BackgroundMaternal attitudes and beliefs have been shown to influence childhood vaccination coverage, resulting in under-vaccination, non-vaccination, and vaccination delay. This study aimed to investigate the mothers' attitudes and perceptions about vaccination for their children in Greece.MethodsThis was an online cross-sectional study, conducted from 4 April to 8 June 2020. A self-administered questionnaire was used to collect information about mothers' and their children's socio-demographic characteristics, previous vaccination behavior, and mothers' attitudes and perceptions about childhood vaccination. Participants included adult mothers with at least one minor child.ResultsOne thousand eight hundred eighty-five mothers participated, with the majority (91.7%) believing in the usefulness of vaccines and that vaccines protect children from serious and life-threatening diseases. A larger percentage of mothers with higher educational attainment agreed/absolutely agreed that all vaccinations provided by the National Vaccination Program must be offered to their children (91.6%) (p = 0.02) and that vaccines protect children from serious and life-threatening diseases (92.9%) (p = 0.01). Significant more married/in cohabitation and not single-parent mothers agreed that vaccines are safe (53.5% and 53.4%, respectively). There were also several significant associations between maternal attitudes toward childhood vaccination and previous maternal vaccination practices [(e.g., adherence to recommended vaccination dosages (all p-values < 0.01), vaccination delays (all p-values < 0.05), and vaccination during pregnancy (all p-values < 0.01)].ConclusionMaternal attitudes and perceptions toward childhood vaccination are significantly influenced by sociodemographic factors and maternal vaccination practices. Revealing those is essential for public health officials in developing future strategies to improve childhood vaccination coverage and acceptance of new vaccines such as the COVID-19 vaccine.

Knowledge and trust of mothers regarding childhood vaccination in Rwanda

“…In our study, 1,943 (91.4%) of the mothers/caregivers indicated that they had trust in childhood vaccination, which was higher than the 48.2—66% reported in other studies conducted in the Washington State and Saudi Arabia [ 78 , 79 ], slightly higher than the 84% vaccine acceptance due to trust in six Southeast Asian countries [ 77 ] and lower than 91.6% reported amongst mothers in Greece [ 74 ]. Trust in childhood vaccination depended on the socio-demographic characteristics; sex, relationship with child(ren), educational status, occupation of parents/monthly income, as well as on the sources of vaccine information.…”

“…The 95.5% proportion of respondents with good knowledge of childhood vaccination in this study was high compared with the 86% reported among Saudi Arabian mothers [ 65 ], and very high compared with the 27 – 37.2% reported by other authors among Indonesian, Egyptian and Ethiopian parents [ 53 , 70 – 72 ], and similar to the 91.7 – 94.4% reported among mothers in Italy and Greece [ 73 , 74 ]. In another study on mothers' knowledge towards children's vaccination in Lebanon, good knowledge depended on physician’s communication [ 1 ].…”

Determinants of COVID‐19 vaccine uptake among healthcare professionals and the general population in Cyprus: A web‐based cross‐sectional survey

“… 49 The same study also showed that the majority of participants are against the immediate vaccination of children after the release of new vaccines. 49 In addition, many COVID‐19 vaccines were not approved for young children, so parents may think vaccines were unsafe for their children and themselves.…”

“…A possible explanation could be the parental fear of any long‐term health problem caused by the vaccine that will interfere with their ability to raise their children. Supporting this hypothesis, a recent study showed that only a small percentage of mothers in Greece did not have doubts about the efficacy and safety of new vaccines 49 . The same study also showed that the majority of participants are against the immediate vaccination of children after the release of new vaccines 49 .…”

“…Supporting this hypothesis, a recent study showed that only a small percentage of mothers in Greece did not have doubts about the efficacy and safety of new vaccines 49 . The same study also showed that the majority of participants are against the immediate vaccination of children after the release of new vaccines 49 . In addition, many COVID‐19 vaccines were not approved for young children, so parents may think vaccines were unsafe for their children and themselves.…”