Parental Attitudes and Anxiety towards COVID-19 Vaccination in Egypt

Abstract

Background: Multiple factors negatively affect parental attitudes towards vaccinating children against COVID-19, particularly anxiety. This represents a barrier to long-term control of the pandemic. Objective(s):To study parental attitudes towards COVID-19 vaccination of children and adolescents and its association with anxiety. Methods: A cross-sectional study using an online electronic survey collected from 361 caregivers of children and adolescents (5-17 years old) was conducted. The Arabic version of Parental Attitudes about Childhood Vaccines (PACV) Questionnaire for assessing vaccine hesitancy among parents and the Arabic version of Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI-A) for assessing anxiety symptoms were used. Results: 18% of the parents were hesitant towards vaccinating their children against COVID-19, 54.8% preferred that their children would develop natural immunity by acquiring the infection, 62.0%, 68.4%, and 41.8% were concerned that their children might have a serious side effect after the shot, they might not be safe or the vaccine might not prevent the disease respectively. Hesitance was higher among the unvaccinated and those who received the first and second dose with no intention to finish the booster one (p =0.004 and 0.001 respectively). Higher hesitancy was found among parents with severe anxiety (p=0.017). Conclusion: A significantly higher hesitancy towards COVID-19 vaccination of children was found among parents having severe anxiety, young age, and higher education.