Role of Parents' Perceived Risk and Responsibility in Deciding on Children's COVID-19 Vaccination

COVID-19 immunization status in children compared to their parents: a retrospective review at an upstate NY medicine/pediatrics practice

BACKGROUND

This study aimed to investigate the relationship between parent and child COVID-19 immunization series completion using vaccine records.

METHODS

A cross-sectional chart review was performed on parent and child patients at the Albany Medical Center Internal Medicine and Pediatrics practice. Patient and parent demographic data, COVID-19 immunization status, and health care worker status was collected. Patient data was further separated into 2 cohorts to account for vaccine eligibility among child age groups, with 5-11 years and 6 months-4 years cohorts. Chi square or Fisher's exact test was used where appropriate.

RESULTS

Across both cohorts, 371 child patients were identified and cross-matched with corresponding parents. Neither cohort offered evidence linking child immunization series completion with the child's race, ethnicity, or county of residence. However, rates of series completion were higher for children with private insurance versus public options in both the 5-11 years and 6 months-4 years cohorts (both p < 0.001). Children were more likely to be immunized against COVID-19 if their parents were fully immunized against COVID-19 (both p < 0.05). Children aged 6 months-4 years were more likely to be immunized against COVID-19 if their parent was a health care worker (p = 0.038).

CONCLUSIONS

This study demonstrates a significance between child insurance status, as well as between parental vaccination status and child vaccination status. Only children under 5 years were more likely to be vaccinated against COVID-19 if their parent was a health care worker.

Vaccinating for My Family or for My Community? The Effect of Message Framing on Parental Intention to Vaccinate during the COVID Pandemic

BACKGROUND

Social media is one of the major platforms for disseminating essential health messages. The present study examined the effect of message framing (self-interest motive, prosocial motive) on an online platform for parental intention to vaccinate against COVID-19. It also examined how the effect may vary across participants' levels of parental identity centrality/salience and community orientation before the vaccine was officially available.

METHODS

Six hundred and sixty-three Hong Kong Chinese parents were recruited, and a total of 278 valid responses were retained in the analyses. Participants were randomly assigned to one of the three conditions: self-interest motive, prosocial motive, and control. Participants in the self-interest motive condition and the prosocial motive condition read a condition-specific message about the COVID-19 vaccine. Then, they reported their levels of intention to vaccinate against COVID-19, including parent-vaccination, child-vaccination, and medical information-seeking.

RESULTS

A significant group effect on child-vaccination was found. Participants in the self-interest motive condition reported a higher intention to vaccinate their children against COVID-19 compared with the other two conditions. Results of moderation analyses indicated that communal orientation moderated the effect of a self-interest-motive-emphasized message on parental intention to vaccinate against COVID-19. The effect of a self-interest-motive-emphasized message appeared to be stronger on parent-vaccination, child-vaccination, and medical information-seeking among parents who reported lower levels of communal orientation.

CONCLUSION

These findings provided some initial evidence of the effectiveness of message-framing in promoting parents' intention to vaccinate their children on online platforms.

Development, Implementation, and Evaluation of Three Outreach Events to Improve COVID-19 Vaccine Uptake Among Racial and Ethnic Minority Communities in Houston, Texas, 2022

OBJECTIVES

Lack of access to timely, accurate, and linguistically appropriate COVID-19 information has complicated the dissemination of evidence-based information and contributed to vaccine hesitancy among racial and ethnic minority groups in the United States. We developed community events that provided outreach, education, and access to COVID-19 vaccination to overcome vaccine hesitancy in these communities.

METHODS

Using spatial analysis techniques, we identified 3 communities with low vaccine uptake in Houston, Texas, in fall 2021; engaged 20 stakeholders from these communities via 4 focus groups to understand barriers to vaccination; and developed and implemented 3 COVID-19 vaccine education and outreach events tailored to the needs of these communities in January-March 2022. We used program evaluation surveys to assess attendee characteristics and satisfaction with the events. Vaccinated attendees also completed surveys on what motivated them to get vaccinated.

RESULTS

Two communities were predominantly Hispanic, and the third had an equal number of Black and Hispanic residents. Based on community stakeholder input, the study team organized 2 health fairs and 1 community festival featuring dialogue-based COVID-19 vaccine engagement in January and March 2022. Across the 3 events, a total of 865 attendees received COVID-19 education and 205 (24.0%) attendees received a COVID-19 vaccine or booster. Of 90 attendees who completed program evaluation surveys, 81 (90%) rated the outreach event as good or excellent. Of 145 attendees who completed postvaccination surveys, 132 (91%) endorsed ≥1 key program feature as motivating them to either get vaccinated or vaccinate their child that day.

CONCLUSION

Community outreach events are important strategies for disseminating information, building trust, and facilitating COVID-19 vaccine uptake.

Exploring Parental Attitudes and Perceptions Regarding Childhood Vaccinations in Greece: A Study Within the Framework of the National Health Examination Survey (EMENO)

AIM

Vaccinations have reduced illnesses and mortality rates globally, yet negative attitudes and uncertainty about them hinder their acceptability and efficacy. The study aims to document Greek parents' immunization perceptions and risk factors.

METHODS

Spanning 2014-2017, 447 parents (68% mothers) who participated in the Greek Health Examination Survey EMENO (National Survey of Morbidity and Risk Factors) completed an interview-delivered questionnaire. Attitudes were categorized into three groups: absolutely positive, positive, and negative. Absolutely positive attitudes included positive responses to all five statements in favor of vaccination and negative responses to the two statements against vaccination. Negative attitudes included positive responses to either one or both statements against vaccination and negative responses to all five statements in favor of vaccination.. All other participants were categorized as having a positive attitude. Skepticism towards vaccinations was classified into skeptical and non-skeptical groups based on responses to five statements implying uncertainty or skepticism. Participants were considered skeptical if they provided positive responses to at least three of these statements, and non-skeptical if they had none or up to two positive responses. The statistical analysis accounted for the study design whereas inverse probability weighting was used to adjust for non-response and multiple imputations were employed to impute missing values. The components of parental attitude and vaccine skepticism were identified using weighted multinomial logistic regression and logistic regression, respectively.

RESULTS

In total, 16.6% were classified as having absolutely positive attitudes towards vaccinations whereas 42.1% were skeptical of vaccines. Of all participants, 96.0% agreed that vaccinations are essential for their child's well-being and adhere to scientific recommendations. However, concerns were also mentioned, with 26.2% worrying about potential adverse effects, and 21.6% believing it is better to acquire immunity through illness rather than vaccination. Positive participants, compared to absolutely positive ones, were more likely to be of Greek origin (adjusted relative rate ratio (aRRR): 3.35; 95% CI: 1.53-7.30) and living in semi-urban areas (aRRR: 4.84; 95% CI: 1.77-13.29). Negative participants, in contrast, were more likely to have higher education (aRRR: 2.98; 95% CI: 1.05-8.44) but also to live in semi-urban areas (aRRR: 6.43; 95% CI: 1.69-24.56). Furthermore, parents of Greek origin had significantly higher odds of being skeptical towards vaccination (adjusted Odds Ratio (aOR): 2.86; 95% CI: 1.36-5.98), while married or cohabiting parents had lower odds of being skeptical compared to single parents (aOR: 0.60; 95% CI: 0.35-1.06).

CONCLUSIONS

While parents in this study recognize the importance of childhood immunizations, there is a widespread presence of negative attitudes and skepticism that can have a detrimental impact on vaccination rates.