Exploring Hesitancy, Motivations, and Practical Issues for COVID-19 Vaccination Among Vaccine-Hesitant Adopter...

Area of Science:

• Pediatric Health
• Vaccinology
• Public Health

Background:

• Low COVID-19 vaccination rates in children persist.
• Parental hesitancy is a significant barrier to pediatric COVID-19 vaccination.
• Understanding hesitancy is crucial for improving vaccine uptake.

Purpose of the Study:

• To explore factors influencing parental hesitancy towards childhood COVID-19 vaccination.
• To identify facilitators that motivated hesitant parents to vaccinate their children.
• To provide insights into the lived experiences of hesitant adopter parents.

Main Methods:

• Qualitative descriptive study utilizing individual interviews with 20 hesitant adopter parents.
• The Increasing Vaccination Model guided initial coding.
• Nine emergent themes were identified to analyze hesitancy and facilitators.

Main Results:

• Identified specific factors contributing to parental hesitancy regarding COVID-19 vaccines for children.
• Documented key facilitators that motivated hesitant parents to proceed with vaccination.
• Highlighted the perspectives and experiences of parents who overcame initial hesitancy.

Conclusions:

• This research addresses a gap in understanding the nuanced experiences of hesitant adopters.
• Findings offer valuable insights into overcoming parental vaccine hesitancy for COVID-19.
• The study provides a foundation for targeted public health interventions to increase pediatric vaccination coverage.