Parental Vaccine Literacy: Attitudes towards the COVID-19 Vaccines and Intention to Vaccinate Their Children Aged 5–11 Years against COVID-19 in Thailand

Abstract

Background: High rates of population immunity are needed to control the COVID-19 pandemic. This study aimed to assess parents’ intention to have their children, aged 5–11 years, vaccinated against COVID-19 and its influencing factors in Thailand. Methods: A cross-sectional online survey was conducted before the nationwide COVID-19 vaccine rollout for children aged 5–11 years in Thailand. A sample of 542 parents with children in this age group was recruited online. Results: In total, 58.8% of parents intended to vaccinate their child against COVID-19. Logistic regression analysis revealed that influencing factors include child age, parents’ education, interactive/critical vaccine literacy, attitudes that the COVID-19 vaccine is safe and effective for children, that the vaccine can reduce the severity of COVID-19 in children, that there were other ways to prevent children from contracting COVID-19 superior to vaccination, and that COVID-19 vaccination in children can be fatal. The main reasons for having an intention to vaccinate their children included to reduce the severity of symptoms if infected with COVID-19 and to protect them from contracting COVID-19 when they go to school. Conclusions: Our study provides evidence regarding factors influencing parents’ intention to vaccinate their children. The findings can be used to design future interventions to promote COVID-19 vaccine uptake in children.

Perspectives in the Development of Tools to Assess Vaccine Literacy

“…These variables include communication, knowledge, beliefs, attitudes, behaviors, self-efficacy, and competencies (Figure 2). As mentioned, nine studies included in the updated review support the notion of a direct negative association between VL and VH [26,27,30,32,34,35,[38][39][40], while the other three showed a partial or complete mediating effect [8,33,37]. These findings were contradicted by other investigations published during the same period [28,31].…”

“…Regarding the correlation between VL and vaccine acceptance, in two web surveys [34,35], Maneesriwongul et al have explored Thai parental attitudes and VL about COVID-19 vaccination. While nearly all parents of children under five years of age received their own vaccine, only 45% intended on vaccinating their child.…”

COVID-19 Vaccine Acceptance and Hesitancy among Nurses in Thailand: Implications, Challenges, and Future Prospects for Attitudes and Vaccine Literacy

“…Moreover, previous studies in Egypt [ 57 ] and the Democratic Republic of the Congo [ 10 ] also found that healthcare workers’ attitudes toward COVID-19 vaccination were a main predictor of acceptance [ 10 , 57 ]. Additionally, attitudes toward COVID-19 vaccines were predictors of acceptance among people living in Thailand [ 27 ] and among Thai parents [ 58 ].…”

Bibliometric and visual analyses of vaccine literacy research from 1982 to 2023

“…Previous studies have indicated that VL is associated with gender, and as children are a priority group for vaccination, there may also be differences in the effect of parents’ VL on childhood vaccination or vaccine hesitancy, but most of the current studies have examined the effect of VL on vaccine hesitancy and vaccination using children’s parents as a whole, with less in-depth exploration of this gender difference. 27–29 , 82 Clusters 2 and 4 showed that it is possible to further explore whether and why there is a gender difference between mothers’ and fathers’ VL on childhood vaccination or vaccine hesitancy, in order to develop appropriate strategies to improve childhood vaccination.…”