Background Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease that is caused by severe acute respiratory coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). With the rapid spread of this pandemic, vaccination has been a breakthrough solution. At the time of conducting the study, COVID-19 vaccines were only approved for adults 18 years and older. Therefore, the aim of the study was to assess the parents’ likelihood of vaccinating their children once the recommendation for pediatric vaccination is established. Methods This was a cross-sectional study in which a self-administered survey was distributed to all parents visiting National Guard primary healthcare centers in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The questionnaires were distributed to parents attending primary care clinics. Data collected in the questionnaire include demographics (gender, marital status, educational level, and age), questions assessing parental perception towards the COVID-19 vaccine, and willingness to offer the vaccine to their children. Results A total of 333 respondents completed the survey with a response rate of 83.3%. Half of the participants were males and the other half were females with the majority (45.6%) aged between 31 and 40 years old. In terms of parental acceptability of vaccinating their children against COVID-19, 53.7% of the parents were willing to vaccinate their children as opposed to 27% who were reluctant to do so. Of those who refused, 97.5% and 96.6% cited lack of information and evidence, respectively, as the most common reasons for not accepting COVID-19 vaccine. We have found that age of the parents, especially those 31-40 years old, age of their children, especially 4-12 years old, and previous acceptance of the seasonal influenza vaccine were significantly associated with higher parental acceptability of COVID-19 vaccine. In contrast, gender, marital status and educational level were not statistically significant factors. Conclusion As COVID-19 spread globally and made people's lives in danger, vaccination became a highly important measure to halt the spread of the disease. Parents are now given the choice of protecting their beloved children from COVID-19 infection and its possible complications. Based on our findings, we noticed that majority of parents are going to vaccinate their children. In addition, some certain age groups of parents and children were significantly associated with decreased vaccine hesitancy to take the COVID-19 vaccine.

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BackgroundThe coronavirus disease 2019 , which is also known as severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2), is an infection that is caused by the novel coronavirus. COVID-19 has severely affected the public health by causing more than 200 million cases and four million deaths worldwide. There are, presently, no specific antiviral treatments for COVID-19. As immunization is one of the most successful and cost-effective health interventions to prevent this infectious disease, a number of vaccines, around 112, have been developed. In Saudi Arabia, many vaccination campaigns have already started. There are currently four approved COVID-19 vaccines but only three are available for use in Saudi Arabia.

Purpose: Our study aims to explore the preparedness of the frontline leaders of the primary health care (PHC) centres in dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic and to understand their experiences in implementing preventive interventions necessary to routinise health care service delivery. Methods: A qualitative exploratory study was conducted using in-depth interviews with the participants in English. The interviews were transcribed verbatim, and inductive coding followed by thematic analysis was performed using NVivo version 12. Participants: Six participants in charge of managing their respective primary health care settings were included in the study. Purposive sampling was used to identify participants until saturation was reached. After agreement, the interviews were scheduled as per availability. Results: The results were grouped into three major themes and nine subthemes. Most leaders reported that they were trained in pandemic preparedness, but there was a lack of focused readiness to handle a massive-scale, infectious disease outbreak or pandemic. The initial lack of guidelines specific to COVID-19 was a barrier in making decisions related to staff and patient care. Services were interrupted initially and there was lack of staff since many acquired COVID-19 and were isolated. The shortage of the staff was delt by repurposing staff from other departments to the essential care services. Fears related to pandemic was one of the main concerns reported among staff and patients. Several initiatives were taken to ensure staff safety and uninterrupted service delivery to patients. The use of technology was an effective mechanism in preparing for the pandemic. Conclusion: This qualitative study helped in understanding the experiences of primary health care leaders during the COVID-19 pandemic. The facilities lacked overall preparedness at the beginning of the pandemic; however, many initiatives were taken in course of time to ensure smooth operations and continued service delivery to the patients.