Public perception and barriers to compulsory childhood vaccination in the western region, Saudi Arabia

Abstract

Background: The immunization rate is one of the best public health outcomes; parental immunization decision is essential to improve the speed of immunization. The current study aims to identify and analyze the perception of married couples about the importance of vaccination and the source of information about vaccines by assessing the barriers and obstacles that prevent the children from receiving the vaccines. Methods: This is a cross-sectional study on married couples in the Western region, Saudi Arabia, conducted from 22 October 2020 to 22 April 2021. A simple randomized sampling of 1500 participants through an online electronic survey was perfromed. The data has been obtained as follows: demographic (age, gender, residency... etc.), child vaccination status and barriers, perception and acceptance of vaccination, and source of information. Results: It was reported by 80.5% of the participants that their child received the compulsory vaccination up to their age, whereas 3.9% (n='16) participants have not received any vaccine, Participants who have more than two or more children at home have received all vaccines up to their children's age (81.24%) compared to those who have only one child (79%), when we have assessed the reasons behind missing the compulsory vaccines, it has found that the most common single reason was long waiting time (16.25%) followed by forgetting the day of immunization. Conclusion: Depending on the data, the system needs to improve to decrease the waiting time and remind the parents about vaccination day. Also, educating parents with one child about compulsory vaccination is essential.