Attitude of parents toward vaccination against COVID-19 for own children in Jordan: A cross-sectional study

Breastfeeding experiences of COVID-19 survivor multipara mothers during pre- and post-COVID-19: a comparative phenomenological study

AIM

This study aims to explore the experiences faced by survivor of COVID-19 multipara Jordanian breastfeeding mothers.

METHOD

This study employed a qualitative phenomenological design to explore the breastfeeding experiences of COVID-19 survivor multipara mothers in Jordan during the post-COVID-19 period. Participants were recruited using purposive sampling through social media platforms, community postings, and word of mouth. Data collection occurred between January and March 2024 via guideline interviews conducted during the early postpartum period. A total of 20 multiparous breastfeeding women were interviewed until data saturation was reached. Thematic and content analysis was applied to transcribed interview data using NVivo software, with themes identified through iterative coding and consensus among researchers to ensure reliability and depth of insight.

RESULTS

The study identified five themes: breastfeeding experience during the post-COVID-19 period compared to pre-COVID, breastfeeding women's thoughts about vaccination effects on their milk, types of barriers/challenges women experienced while breastfeeding during the post-COVID period compared to pre-COVID-19, receiving any education regarding breastfeeding during the post-COVID-19 period, and suggestions to improve the breastfeeding experience compared to pre-COVID-19.

CONCLUSION

This study offers valuable insights into the breastfeeding experiences of multipara mothers in Jordan who survived COVID-19 and continued to breastfeed during the post-pandemic period. The findings highlight a range of physical, psychological, and social challenges that these mothers faced, including changes in milk supply, concerns about vaccination, emotional distress, and limited support systems. Despite these obstacles, many mothers demonstrated resilience and a strong desire to continue breastfeeding.

CLINICAL TRIAL NUMBER

Not applicable.

Predictors on parent's attitudes toward the measles-rubella (MR) vaccine in Jordan: An education program

BACKGROUND

Vaccine hesitancy is considered 1 of the top 10 threats to global health. This study aims to assess the impact of an education program on parents' attitudes toward the measles-rubella vaccine.

METHODS

A study was conducted with 250 parents using a randomized controlled trial design. The intervention group (125 parents) received training, education programs, and video, while the control group (125 parents) only received video. The Parent Attitudes about Childhood Vaccines (PACV) scale, including its behavior, safety and efficacy, and trust subscales, was used for pre-post assessment. This allowed for comparison between the groups and measurement of score differences. The PACV scale (range 0-42) identified vaccine hesitancy, with a score below 21 indicating "non-hesitant" and 21 or higher indicating "hesitant."

RESULTS

The intervention group had a significant decrease in PACV scores after the program (17.54 ± 4.7, P = .001), mainly in behavior, safety, efficacy, and trust (6.4 ± 3.6, 9.8 ± 4.7, 3.9 ± 2; P = .001, .011, .002). The control group showed no changes (23.6 ± 3.5; P = .402). Postintervention PACV score differences were significant (t = 11.562, P = .001).

DISCUSSION

Findings indicate that the education program had a positive effect on changing vaccine hesitancy.

CONCLUSIONS

The education programs promoted vaccine acceptance among parents.

Factors influencing Jordanian parents' COVID-19 vaccination decision for children: A cross-sectional study

BACKGROUND

Vaccine hesitancy is a major public health problem that emerged post-COVID-19 pandemic, especially for children. Different factors influence parents' perspectives about vaccinating their children and can vary across different populations and contexts.

PURPOSE

This study aimed to explore the vaccine hesitancy among parents in Jordan to vaccinate their children between the ages of 5 and 18.

DESIGN AND METHODS

A descriptive cross-sectional design was used. A convenient sample was used to recruit Jordanian parents. Data was collected via an online questionnaire including demographic data, the Vaccine Hesitancy Questionnaire, the Questionnaire of Vaccine Hesitancy Reasons, and the Vaccine Conspiracy Beliefs Scale.

RESULTS

Over 177 parents, the mean age was 37.74 years (SD = 8.39); the majority of them were females (74%). 51.4% of the participants refused to give the COVID-19 vaccine to their children. Concerns about the safety and efficacy of the vaccine and lack of information about disease and vaccine were the common reasons for the parents' hesitancy. In addition, 54.2% of participants agreement was with the conspiracy theory that pharmaceutical companies cover up the dangers of vaccines. Parents' younger age and fewer children were associated with hesitancy to vaccinate their children with COVID-19.

CONCLUSIONS

Many parents are hesitant to vaccinate their children against COVID-19. Concerns about the vaccine's efficacy and safety as well as potential long-term negative effects were the main reasons for vaccine hesitancy.

PRACTICE IMPLICATIONS

Nurses play a critical role in determining parental hesitancy. Providing detailed, accurate, evidence-based vaccine information is essential to reduce this hesitancy.

Support for Mandatory COVID-19 Vaccines for 5- to 11-Year-Old Children: Cross-sectional study of Omani mothers

Objectives

This study aimed to investigate the variables that influenced a sample of Omani mothers' support for mandatory COVID-19 vaccines for children. The vaccination against COVID-19 averted millions of fatalities during the COVID-19 pandemic. Nevertheless, a considerable number of parents and caregivers opposed mandating COVID-19 vaccines for children.

Methods

This cross-sectional study was conducted at several healthcare facilities in Oman using a structured questionnaire between February and March 2022. Univariable and multivariable logistic regression models were used to analyse the data.

Results

A total of 700 Omani mothers (response rate = 73.4%) who had children aged 5-11 years old were included. The median age of the mothers was 38 ± 5.19 years. The results of multivariable logistic regression were generally consistent with those of the univariable analysis except for age (odds ratio [OR] = 1.06, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.58-1.93; P = 0.86) and income (OR = 1.09, 95% CI: 0.58-2.03; P = 0.79). Mothers who were vaccine hesitant (OR = 9.82, 95% CI: 5.27-18.28; P <0.001), tested positive for COVID-19 (OR = 3.25, 95% CI: 1.80-5.86; P <0.001) and had one or two doses of COVID-19 vaccines (OR = 5.41, 95% CI: 2.92-10.03; P <0.001) were more likely to refuse mandating COVID-19 vaccines for children 5-11 years old.

Conclusion

Mothers who were vaccine hesitant, tested positive for COVID-19 and had one or two doses of COVID-19 vaccines were more likely to oppose mandatory COVID-19 vaccines for young children. The findings should aid public health authorities in designing future childhood vaccine literacy programmes with specific attention to some subgroups in Oman to help reduce opposition to vaccines in future pandemics among mothers.

COVID-19 vaccine uptake and associated factors among adolescents and youths: Findings and implications for future vaccination programmes

Adolescents and youths are a key part of the population that needs to be protected against the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). This is because they are more likely to spread the virus to vulnerable individuals. In view of these concerns, this study investigated the uptake of COVID-19 vaccines and associated factors among adolescents and youths attending secondary schools in Zambia. This cross-sectional study was conducted among 1500 school-going adolescents in Lusaka from September 2022 to November 2022. Overall, 1409 participants took part giving a response rate of 94%. Only 29.2% (n = 411) of the participants were vaccinated against COVID-19 at the time of the study. Compared to their unvaccinated counterparts, vaccinated adolescents and youths scored higher for knowledge (66.2% vs 57.8%) and attitudes (76.7% vs 39.4%) regarding COVID-19 vaccines. Healthcare workers, family/friends and social media were key sources of information regarding the vaccine. Factors associated with increased vaccine uptake were positive attitudes (AOR = 33.62, 95% CI: 19.92-56.73), indicating it was stressful to follow COVID-19 preventive measures (AOR = 1.47, 95% CI: 1.09-1.99), participants in Grade 12 (AOR = 3.39, 95% CI: 1.94-5.91), Grade 11 (AOR = 2.59, 95% CI: 1.94-5.91), Grade 10 (AOR = 3.48, 95% CI: 1.98-6.11) and Grade 9 (AOR = 3.04, 95% CI: 1.74-5.32) compared to Grade 8. This study found a relatively low uptake of COVID-19 vaccines among adolescents and youths in Zambia. There is a need to provide adequate strategies to address knowledge and attitude gaps regarding COVID-19 vaccines to improve uptake and reduce future morbidity and mortality.

Parental hesitancy against COVID-19 vaccination for children and associated factors in Taiwan

BACKGROUND

Since July 2021, some countries and regions have initiated the vaccination of minors against coronavirus disease (COVID-19), and parental COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy will affect the vaccination of minors. We aimed to identify the level of parental hesitancy to vaccinate their children against COVID-19 in Taiwan and the factors associated with vaccine hesitancy.

METHODS

We conducted a population-based, self-administered online questionnaire in Taiwan to assess parental hesitancy and the factors influencing their children's vaccination against COVID-19.

RESULTS

Among 384 respondents, 64.1% were hesitant to have their children vaccinated against COVID-19. Mothers were more likely to hesitate to vaccinate their teens than their fathers (67.5% vs. 50%, P < 0.005). Multiple regression results showed that parents who were hesitant to vaccinate themselves (OR = 3.81, 95% CI:2.07-7.02) and those who scored lower on their perception of their children's vaccination (OR = 9.73, 95% CI:5.62-16.84) were more hesitant to vaccinate their children with COVID-19 vaccine.

CONCLUSIONS

According to the study findings, 64.1% of Taiwanese parents were hesitant to vaccinate their children against COVID-19. Parents who were hesitant to receive the COVID-19 vaccine for themselves and had negative views of the vaccine for their children were more likely to be hesitant to vaccinate their children. An in-depth discussion of the factors affecting vaccine hesitancy and targeted health education is conducive to promoting vaccination in children with COVID-19.

The attitude of fully vaccinated individuals towards COVID-19 vaccine booster dose: a transverse study from Jordan

Objectives

COVID-19 vaccines are efficient against serious infections, and those initiated by the various variants. Many high- and middle-income countries have decided to offer third-dose boosters to ensure their populations remain protected against novel COVID-19 variants before additional waves of COVID-19. This study aims to assess individuals’ attitudes towards COVID-19 booster vaccination dose and to determine predictors of this attitude.

Methods

This study used a cross-sectional descriptive design. The inclusion criteria for participants were Jordanian adults who had been fully vaccinated against COVID-19. A quota sampling strategy based on the participant’s, age and gender was used to ensure that the sample was broadly representative of the general population in Jordan. The instrument was distributed across popular social networking sites such as Facebook and WhatsApp. The study was conducted in October 2021.

Key findings

The response rate of this study was 63.5% (n = 952). The mean score of attitudes towards a booster dose of COVID-19 was 47.1 ± 8.2, indicating that about half of the sample was supportive to the booster dose. There were differences in the acceptability of a booster dose for COVID-19 according to the demographic and clinical characteristics of the participants. Individuals with high income (B = 0.210, P = 0.000), high educational level (B = −0.076, P = 0.026), those who have suffered vaccine side effects (B = −0.081, P = 0.013) and follow the news about COVID-19 (B = 0.076, P = 0.043) were more likely to accept the booster dose than the other groups.

Conclusions

Participants had mixed attitudes towards the booster dose with about half of the participants willing to take the booster. Some factors associated with such attitude were identified. The findings are useful in developing and implementing effective vaccination strategies that target people who are not ready to take a booster dose.