The COVID States Project #68: Heightened parental concerns about COVID-19 vaccinations for children

Abstract

In early October 2021, Pfizer and BioNTech asked the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to authorize their COVID-19 vaccine for children between the ages of 5 and 11. The success of vaccinating children is, however, still contingent upon whether parents feel their children should get the COVID-19 vaccine.Before the pandemic, vaccine hesitancy among parents was prevalent in certain pockets of the US. Parental vaccine hesitancy led to decreased inoculation rates among children for immunizations such as the MMR vaccine. This subsequently led to outbreaks of previously-eradicated diseases - like the measles - among children in states such as Washington and New York in 2018, and Minnesota in 2017.With the COVID-19 vaccine, parental vaccine hesitancy could similarly lead to higher levels of COVID-19 cases among minors, while also transmitting the disease to other populations. Investigating parental vaccine concerns is important in understanding and addressing parental vaccine hesitancy surrounding COVID-19. For this reason, in June 2021 we asked parents across the country about various concerns regarding childhood COVID-19 vaccination. We isolated their top five concerns: how new the vaccine is, whether the vaccine has been tested enough, whether the vaccine actually works, immediate side effects of the vaccine, and long-term side effects of the vaccine. We asked parents about these concerns again in September 2021 to detect shifts over time.Across the board, we find that the proportion of parents who felt these five items were major concerns increased substantially. We also find that several groups tend to express more concern over vaccinating their children against COVID-19, including younger mothers, parents of younger children, parents of children who have not yet been vaccinated, Republicans and Independents, Hispanic and Black parents, the non-college educated, and rural residents.We also asked parents about the likelihood of vaccinating their kids against COVID-19. We found significant proportions of parental vaccine hesitancy. For instance, 34% of parents with kids under 12 said it was unlikely that they would vaccinate their children against COVID-19. Further, the likelihood of parents vaccinating their children against COVID-19 was highly related to parental vaccination status and mode of student instruction.Parents having concerns about vaccinating their children does not automatically result in vaccine hesitancy, and it is also possible that the vaccine hesitant adopt heightened concerns because they are vaccine hesitant. That said, the concerns and motivations driving COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy among parents should be examined more closely.

Factors influencing parents’ hesitancy to vaccinate their children aged 5–11 years old against COVID-19: results from a cross-sectional study in Malaysia

“…The 5Cs were assessed using the previously validated 5C scale ( 32 ). The scale consisted of 15 items.…”

“…Demographic variables have also been associated with parental COVID-19 vaccine acceptance. These include higher parental income and education, and whether the parent has received the COVID-19 vaccination themselves ( 30 , 32 , 35 ). Racial and ethnic differences have also been reported.…”

“…Further, the 5C model of psychological antecedents, which include confidence, complacency, constraint, calculation, and collective responsibility, is often used to predict vaccination hesitancy in a population ( 50 , 51 ). Generally, people with greater confidence trust the safety and efficacy of COVID-19 vaccines, and also believe in the competence and reliability of their local healthcare service providers in delivering the vaccination program ( 32 ). On the contrary, people lacking confidence may adopt a conspiracy mentality with regards to vaccines, and worry about the harmful effects of vaccine ( 50 ).…”

COVID-19 Vaccine Hesitancy Among Parents of Children Under Five Years in the United States

“…Demographic variables have also been associated with parental COVID-19 vaccine acceptance. These include higher parental income and education and whether the parent has received the COVID-19 vaccination [5,10,13,17]. Racial and ethnic differences have also been reported with Asian American parents most likely and non-Hispanic White parents least likely to plan to vaccinate their 5 -11 year old and 12 -17 year old children [4,18] and these differences in parental intentions appear to coincide with the race and ethnicity of older children who have been vaccinated based on their share of the population [19].…”