Diverse Parents Decision-Making to Vaccinate Their Child under Five Attending Childcare Programs

Area of Science:

• Pediatric infectious diseases
• Public health policy
• Vaccinology

Background:

• Emergency Use Authorization for Moderna and Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccines for children aged six months to four years was granted in June 2022.
• Parental decision-making significantly influences vaccine adoption in young children, yet remains understudied.
• Widespread vaccine coverage for this demographic faces challenges due to parental hesitancy.

Purpose of the Study:

• To examine COVID-19 vaccine intentions among parents of young children.
• To identify factors associated with parental decision-making regarding pediatric COVID-19 vaccination.
• To understand the reasons behind vaccine hesitancy in parents of children aged two to five years.

Main Methods:

• Cross-sectional analysis of survey data from 320 predominantly Hispanic parents in Miami-Dade County, Florida.
• Data collected on vaccine intentions, rationales, social determinants of health, and immigrant status.
• Regression modeling and tests of independence used to identify predictors of parental vaccine decision-making.

Main Results:

• Only 25% of parents intended to vaccinate their child; 34% were resistant, and 41% were unsure, despite 70% personal vaccination rates.
• Low household income (<$25,000), migrant status, and a personal COVID-19 positive test significantly predicted unsure decision-making.
• Primary concerns for hesitant parents included side effects (20%), safety (2.9%), and insufficient vaccine knowledge (3.3%).

Conclusions:

• A majority of parents in this sample were unsure or resistant to vaccinating their young children against COVID-19, even after emergency authorization.
• Parental vaccine hesitancy is associated with socioeconomic factors and concerns about vaccine safety and knowledge.
• Understanding these associations is crucial for developing targeted strategies to improve pediatric COVID-19 vaccine uptake.