No improvement in parental vaccine hesitancy in the Netherlands in 2023 versus 2022

Positive perceptions of the Dutch National Immunisation Programme (NIP) have somewhat declined since the COVID-19 pandemic. To assess parental vaccine hesitancy, we studied whether psychosocial determinants of vaccine uptake (intention, attitudes, trust, deliberation and beliefs) differed between 2022 and 2023.

In 2022 and 2023, two online cross-sectional surveys were conducted among parents of young (< 3.5 years) and older children (9-14 years) via a panel organisation. Psychosocial determinants were measured on 7-point Likert scales. Chi-square and multivariate logistic regression analyses were used to study differences in 'negative' (1-2) and 'positive' scores (6-7) of psychosocial determinants among parents of young and of older children between 2022 and 2023.

In 2022 and 2023, 983 and 1,002 parents of young children and 993 and 1,022 parents of older children participated, respectively (response = 12%, 10%, 21% and 15%, respectively). Most parents were positive about vaccination: e.g. 90.5% of parents of young children and 81.5% of parents of older children indicated their child participates in the NIP in 2023. However, in 2023 compared to 2022, significantly fewer parents of older children indicated their child participates in the NIP (2022 = 85.9%, 2023 = 81.5%), expressed positive attitudes towards the value (2022 = 74.2%, 2023 = 69.4%) and importance (2022 = 74.7%, 2023 = 69.5%) of vaccination and reported high trust towards the NIP vaccinations (2022 = 61.0%, 2023 = 52.8%) and the governments' recommendations about vaccination (2022 = 54.3%, 2023 = 49.9%). Similar (significant) trends were observed for their beliefs about vaccination. Except for trust in the governments' vaccination recommendations, these findings were confirmed by the multivariate analysis. Perceptions of parents of young children were similar in 2023 compared to 2022.

While most parents still held positive views about vaccination in 2023, somewhat fewer parents of older children were positive about vaccination in 2023 compared to 2022. Perceptions of parents of young children did not differ between these years. This suggests parental vaccine hesitancy remained stable or increased between 2022 and 2023. It is important to monitor these vaccine uptake determinants and implement appropriate interventions to sustain high vaccine uptake.