Parents’ intention to vaccinate their 5-11 years old children with the COVID-19 vaccine: rates, predictors and the role of incentives

Abstract

BackgroundOn September 20, 2021, Pfizer announced encouraging effectiveness and safety results from their COVID-19 vaccine clinical trials in 5-11 years old children. This study aims to assess parents’ perceptions and intention to vaccinate their 5-11 years old children and to determine the socio-demographic, health-related and behavioral factors, as well as the role of incentives beyond these factors, in predicting this intention.MethodsA cross-sectional representative online survey among parents of children aged 5-11 years in Israel (n=1,012). The survey was carried out between September 23 and October 4, 2021, at a critical time, immediately after Pfizer’s announcement. Two multivariate regressions were performed to determine predictors of parents’ intention to vaccinate their 5-11 years old children against COVID-19 in the coming winter and how soon they intend to do so.ResultsOverall, 57% of the participants reported their intention to vaccinate their 5-11 years old children against COVID-19 in the coming winter. This intention was higher for participants over the age of 40. Perceived susceptibility, perceived benefits, perceived barriers, and cues to action, as well as two incentives - vaccine availability and receiving a ‘green pass’ - were all significant predictors of this intention. When asked about how soon they intend to vaccinate their 5-11 years old children, 27% of the participants responded immediately; 26% within three months; and 24% within more than three months. Participants having a family member suffering from a chronic disease as well as those whose children were vaccinated against influenza in the previous winter intend to vaccinate their children sooner. Perceived susceptibility, perceived severity, perceived benefits, perceived barriers, and cues to action, were all found to be significant predictors of this sense of urgency. Similar to the intention to vaccinate children in the coming winter, while vaccine availability and receiving a ‘green pass’ were found to be positive significant predictors of how soon parents intend to vaccinate their children, other incentives such as monetary rewards or monetary penalties were not found to be significant predictors. Parental concerns centered around the safety of the vaccine (64%), fear of severe side effects (60%), and fear that clinical trials and the authorization process were carried out too quickly (56%).ConclusionsThis study provides up-to-date information on the rates of the intention of parents to vaccinate their 5-11 years old children, how soon they intend to do so, and the predictors of those intentions, which is essential for health policy makers and healthcare providers for planning vaccination campaigns. Moreover, as vaccine safety and side effects were found to be key parental concerns, it is important to release post-approval safety data regarding the vaccine to the public as soon as such is available. Finally, our findings underscore the important role of vaccine accessibility and receiving a ‘green pass’ over other incentives in promoting parents’ intentions to vaccinate their children.

Parents' Hesitancy to Vaccinate Their 5–11-Year-Old Children Against COVID-19 in Saudi Arabia: Predictors From the Health Belief Model

“…Regional and international studies reported lower rates in some areas, including 35% in Qatar and 33% in Chicago ( 18 , 20 ), however, these percentages included parents with children >11 years of age, which may explain the differences ( 18 , 20 , 23 , 24 , 30 ). A preprint from Israel including parents with 5–11-year-old children, similar to our population, reported that 43% of these parents were hesitant to vaccinate their children ( 31 ). In July 2021, a small study conducted in Arkansas found that around 30% of parents will not vaccinate their children or only vaccinate them when required; interestingly, the hesitancy rates among parents of 12–18-year-old children were similar to the rate among parents with children younger than 12 years of age (28 and 27%, respectively) ( 32 ).…”

Factors predicting caregivers' readiness for vaccination of 5-11 years old children against SARS-CoV-2 - Saudi Arabia, 2022

“…However, caregivers are reluctant to vaccinate their young child due to long-term vaccine safety concerns. Reports from an Israeli study and the Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF) [23,26] performed on similar age groups found an acceptance rate of 45% and 46%, respectively, 10% higher than our study.…”

Willingness, refusal and influential factors of parents to vaccinate their children against the COVID-19: A systematic review and meta-analysis

“… Yes [Y], unsure [U], no [N] Yes: 74.0 Unsure: 14.0 No: 12.0 ( McKinnon et al, 2021 ) If a COVID-19 vaccine is available, will you vaccinate your child? Very likely [Y], somewhat likely [U], unlikely [N] Yes: 73.3 Unsure: 14.3 No: 12.4 ( Shmueli, 2021 ) How appropriate do you consider to vaccinate your children against COVID-19? A scale from 1 [not appropriate at all] to 6 [very appropriate, Y] Yes: 57.2 Unsure: NR No: NR NR: not reported.…”