Caregivers’ Willingness to Vaccinate Their Children Against COVID-19 in Saudi Arabia: A Cross-Sectional Survey

Abstract

BackgroundIn early 2021, vaccination against COVID-19 became one of the most important measures needed to control the pandemic. ObjectivesThis study aimed to investigate the levels of acceptance and factors affecting the decisions among Saudi parents and caregivers of children under 12 for getting them vaccinated. Design and settingA cross-sectional survey of 1000 caregivers and parents was carried out from May 2021 to June 2021. The participants were from the eastern, central, southern, western, and northern provinces of Saudi Arabia. Materials and methodsThe data were collected and managed using Microsoft Excel (Microsoft ® Corp., Redmond, WA) and analyzed using SPSS version 23 (IBM Corp., Armonk, NY). ResultsOf the 1000 respondents, 281 (28.1%) reported they would vaccinate their children, 346 (34.6%) rejected vaccination, and 373 (37.3%) were not sure. Most caregivers (24.1%; n = 241) reported protecting children as the principal reason for accepting vaccination. Regarding those rejecting the vaccine, the most common concern was that children might experience side effects (42.9%; n = 429). LimitationsThe acceptance of the COVID-19 vaccine is dynamic and changes with legislations and public awareness policies. ConclusionsCOVID-19 vaccine acceptance for children was low at the time of this study compared to the United Kingdom and United States. To achieve vaccination coverage that is adequate for herd immunity in Saudi Arabia, intense educational and awareness strategies are needed.

Willingness, refusal and influential factors of parents to vaccinate their children against the COVID-19: A systematic review and meta-analysis

“… Yes [Y], unsure [U], no [N] Yes: 55.5 Unsure: 35.9 No: 8.6 ( Aldakhil et al, 2021 ) It is likely that I will vaccinate my child/children against COVID-19 in the next 6 months Strongly agree [Y], agree [Y], neutral [U], disagree [N], strongly disagree [N] Yes: 52.5 Unsure: 27.9 No: 19.6 ( Alfieri et al, 2021 ) If a new vaccine against COVID-19 became available, how likely would you be to get your child vaccinated? Very likely [Y], somewhat likely [Y], I'm not sure [U], not likely [N] Yes: 33.0 Unsure: NR No: NR ( Almusbah et al, 2021 ) Are you willing to get the COVID-19 vaccine for your child if approved? Yes [Y], unsure [U], no [N] Yes: 25.6 Unsure: 37.0 No: 37.4 ( Altulaihi et al, 2021 ) If a COVID-19 vaccine is available, will you vaccinate for your child?…”

Parents’ and Guardians’ Willingness to Vaccinate Their Children against COVID-19: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

“…In nine studies [16,[18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25], participants with a high school or lower degree were less likely to accept COVID-19 vaccination for their children compared to those with college or higher education, while the opposite results were found in the other six studies [26][27][28][29][30][31]. Compared to women, men were more likely to accept the vaccination in ten studies [22,24,25,[27][28][29][32][33][34][35]. However, women's acceptance rate was higher in the studies of Babicki and Wan [36,37].…”

“…Specifically, the novelty and side effects of COVID-19 vaccines were the two main concerning issues. During the pandemic, some vaccine candidates have been granted fast-track licensure by the US Food and Drug Administration [32], which may result in vaccination hesitancy. A considerable number of vaccine-hesitant parents cited mistrust with the rushed nature of testing in Hetherington's study [21].…”

“…Routine and influenza vaccination behavior might be another positive predictor. Seven studies reported a positive relationship between routine and influenza vaccination behavior and COVID-19 vaccination willingness for children [18,19,32,33,[38][39][40], while in the studies of Humble and Marquez [17,42], children's routine vaccination status was not a significant determinant. Comprehensive analysis of nine studies mentioned above, parents and guardians who had given their children routine vaccines or seasonal influenza vaccines had a higher willingness rate than those who had not (OR: 2.1517, 95% CI: 1.2181, 2.7696).…”

The willingness of parents to vaccinate their children younger than 12 years against COVID-19: a cross-sectional study in Malaysia

“…Teasdale et al reported that 49.4% of parents in the United States were willing to vaccinate their children younger than 12 years against COVID-19 [ 29 ]. Meanwhile, Almusbah et al reported that only 25.6% of parents in Arab were willing to do so [ 30 ]. Another study by Hetherington et al reported that 60.4% of mothers in Canada were keen to obtain the COVID-19 vaccine for their children aged 9–12 years [ 22 ].…”