Parents’ attitudes, knowledge and practice towards vaccinating their children against COVID-19: a cross-sectional study

Abstract

The question of whether children should be vaccinated against COVID-19 is currently being argued. The risk-benefit analysis of the vaccine in children has been more challenging because of the low prevalence of acute COVID-19 in children and the lack of confidence in the relative effects of the vaccine and the disease. One of the most convincing arguments for vaccinating healthy children is to protect them from long-term consequences. The aim of this study was to assess Jordanian parents’ intention to vaccinate their children. This is an Internet-based cross-sectional survey. The researchers prepared a Google Forms survey and shared the link with a number of Jordanian Facebook generic groups. Data were gathered between September and November 2021. In this study, convenience sampling was used. Knowledge about COVID-19 and preventive practices against COVID-19 were calculated for each participant. A total of 819 participants completed the survey (female = 70.9%). Of these, 274 (30.2%) participants intended to vaccinate their children, whereas the rest were either unsure 176 (21.5%) or intended not to vaccinate their children 396 (48.4%). The variables that increased the odds of answering “No” vs “Yes” to “will you vaccinate your children against COVID-19” included not willing to take the vaccines themselves (OR 3.75; CI, 1.46–9.62) and low protective practice group (OR 1.73;CI, 1.12–2.68). Participants had significant levels of refusal/hesitancy. Several barriers to vaccination were identified; attempts to overcome these should be stepped up.

Iraqi Parents’ Knowledge, Attitudes, and Practices towards Vaccinating Their Children: A Cross-Sectional Study

“…The current study found low parental COVID-19 vaccine acceptance for children, with only 38.3% of parents reporting willingness to vaccinate their children against COVID-19. This finding was in line with those of studies conducted across different countries, including Jordan [ 24 ], Turkey [ 33 ], Australia [ 34 ], and the USA [ 35 ], and lower than figures reported in studies conducted in the UK [ 36 ], the USA [ 32 ], Saudi Arabia [ 11 ], Japan [ 37 ], Korea [ 38 ], China [ 39 ], Brazil [ 8 ], Italy [ 7 ], and Qatar [ 40 ].…”

“…Consistent with the findings of an earlier study [ 24 ], our results revealed that stronger perceptions about the effectiveness of a COVID-19 vaccine for children significantly reduced parental vaccination refusal. Perceptions about COVID-19 vaccine effectiveness have also been associated with parents’ acceptance of vaccination against COVID-19 for their children in previous studies [ 10 , 11 ] and with COVID-19 vaccination acceptance in other population groups, including adults [ 41 , 42 , 43 ], university students [ 44 ], and healthcare workers [ 45 ].…”

“…The perceived safety of COVID-19 vaccines affected parents’ decisions about vaccinating their children in the current study, which was consistent with what has been reported in Korean [ 38 ], and Jordanian populations [ 24 ]. Earlier studies found that hesitancy was largely due to safety concerns [ 36 , 45 ].…”

“…The study utilized a previously validated questionnaire used to measure parents’ willingness to vaccinate their children against COVID-19 in Jordan [ 24 ]. Although the questionnaire was previously validated, a pilot study was conducted to perform face validity and intelligibility in order to make certain of the questionnaire’s clarity for Iraqi participants.…”

“…However, Israel had the highest vaccination acceptance rate (75.0%); nevertheless, this rate was substantially lower (61.1%) among nurses surveyed in the same study [ 23 ]. Moreover, parental acceptance of COVID-19 vaccination was also low in the neighboring country of Jordan (30.2%) [ 24 ]. COVID-19 vaccine acceptance could be a stumbling block in worldwide attempts to contain the present pandemic’s harmful health and socioeconomic consequences.…”