Factors Affecting Egyptian Mothers' Intentions to Vaccinate Their Children against COVID-19: A Cross Sectional Study in Egypt

Abstract

Background: The rapid increase in the COVID-19 cases among children needs more attention from health care workers especially nurses. The rapid expansion of vaccines covering children is an important factor for combating this catastrophic pandemic. Aim: to investigate factors affecting Egyptian mothers' intentions to vaccinate their children against COVID-19. Subjects and Method: Design: A descriptive cross-sectional design was utilized in this study. Setting: the study was carried out at pediatric outpatient clinics at Tanta University Hospital. Subjects: 1200 mothers who had children under the age of 18 were recruited to participate in this study. Tool of the study: A structured interview questionnaire that had three parts. The first part covered the socio-demographic characteristics of the mothers, the second part measured mothers' vaccination intention, factors affecting their intentions and the third part was assessing the mothers' trust in the recommended COVID-19 vaccination schedule Results: The results indicated that nearly half of participated mothers (49%) were extremely unlikely to get their children vaccinated against COVID-19 and two thirds (64%)of them were hesitant to give the vaccine because they were afraid from the side effect of the vaccine on their children. Conclusion:The hesitant mothers in this study were concerned about the vaccine's side effects and this was the first factor the mothers consider when deciding to vaccinate their children. Recommendations: Pediatric nurses should understand factors prevent the mothers from vaccinating their children to be able to design and apply health education campaigns about the COVID-19 vaccine that target mothers.

Parental Attitudes and Anxiety towards COVID-19 Vaccination in Egypt

“…Yet the only significant independent predictor was age being under 30 years. These findings were in total concordance with Saied et al 2022 and Gomaa et al 2023 in Egypt regarding age, (15,21) educational level, and anxiety, in addition to Galanis et al 2022. (16) They were in partial concordance with Lee et al 2022, agreeing with the age but not the education related to hesitancy.…”

“…However, their study was carried out at outpatient pediatric clinics in Tanta and only on mothers who could have been worried about their sick children, and the methodology is overall different. (15) Hesitant parents were more encountered among unvaccinated and partially vaccinated who only received the first and second doses with no intention to finish the booster. On the other hand, there was a significantly lower hesitancy among those who completed the doses (first, second, and booster).…”

“…The total PACV score ranged from 0 to 30, which was converted to percentage with a cutoff score of 50% (i.e. 15), where a non-hesitant parent was defined with a score <50% (below 15) and a hesitant with a value ≥50% (above 15). A pilot study was initially performed through different social media platforms before the actual data collection phase to check the questionnaire's feasibility, clarity, and applicability.…”