Introduction: With the approval of COVID-19 vaccinations for children and adolescents in China, parental vaccine hesitancy will emerge as a new challenge with regard to the administration of these vaccines. However, little is known regarding this hesitancy as well as regional differences that may exist between parents from Shandong vs. Zhejiang.Methods: To assess these issues, an online survey was conducted via a Wenjuanxing platform over the period from July 22 to August 14, 2021. Parents from Shandong and Zhejiang were recruited from Wechat groups and results from a total of 917 subjects were analyzed. Factors evaluated in this survey included socio-demographic variables, parental vaccine hesitancy, Parental Attitudes toward Childhood Vaccines (PACV) domains (behavior, safety and efficacy, general attitudes) and social support.Results: Compared with those from Shandong (N = 443), parents from Zhejiang (N = 474) showed significantly higher prevalence rates of COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy (19.4 vs. 11.7%, p = 0.001). Multivariate logistic regression showed that yearly household incomes of ≥120,000 RMB (p = 0.041), medical workers (p = 0.022) and general attitudes of PACV (p = 0.004) were risk factors for vaccine hesitancy among parents from Shandong, while behavior (p = 0.004), safety and efficacy (p < 0.001) and general attitudes of PACV (p = 0.002) were risk factors for parents from Zhejiang. Among parents with vaccine hesitancy (N = 144), concerns over side effects (91.0%) and unknown effects (84.0%) of the COVID-19 vaccine were the most prevalent reasons for hesitancy. Evidence providing proof of vaccine safety (67.4%) and assurance of a low risk of being infected by COVID-19 (60.4%) were the two most effective persuasive factors.Conclusion: Parents from Zhejiang showed a higher prevalence of COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy as compared with those from Shandong. Behavior, safety and efficacy, and general attitudes of PACV were the risk factors associated with this hesitancy in these parents from Zhejiang. Given the identification of the various reasons for parental vaccine hesitancy, different strategies as well as regional adjustments in these strategies will be required for an effective and convincing protocol for childhood vaccinations.

Chinese universities have been conducting a variety of sexuality education programs, including a Sexuality Curriculum (SC) to increase SRH knowledge and improve sexual attitude and practice among college students. However, little is known regarding the effect of SC on students' sexual attitudes and behaviors. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effect of SC on SRH knowledge, sexual attitude and practice among college students of Shandong University. To assess these issues, an online cross-sectional survey was conducted via a WeChat applet. 449 Freshmen were recruited from Shandong university, including 209 students with SC and 240 students without SC. We assessed their SRH knowledge, sexual attitude and practice. 15.8% engaged in sexual activities, while 59.2% had viewed non-scientific books or videos describing sexual behavior within the past 2 weeks. Regarding the initial source of their SRH information，65.9% taught themselves through reading or viewing SRH content in the media, 46.8% participated in school lectures on SRH, while only 31.2% of the participants discussed SRH matters with their parents. As compared with students without SC, students with SC had significantly greater total scores with regard to reproductive health knowledge (p < 0.001) and sexual health knowledge (p < 0.001). Students without SC showed a significant degree of prejudice against STD patients and were more resistant to interact with acquaintances infected with HIV (p < 0.001). Exposure to a school-based SC had a beneficial effect on increasing the SRH knowledge of these students as well as mitigating risky sexual attitudes and behaviors.