The Willingness of Malaysian Parents To Vaccinate Their Children Below 12 Years Old Against COVID-19 – A Large Cross-Sectional Study

Abstract

Background:The administration of a new drug such as the COVID-19 vaccine in children could be a major concern for their parents. This study aims to assess the willingness of Malaysian parents to vaccinate their children < 12 years old against COVID-19. Methods:An online cross-sectional study was conducted nationwide in Malaysia from 29th August 2021 to 17th October 2021. Parents with children < 12 years old were recruited by the snowball sampling method. Results:Of the 4,438 survey responses received, 3,528 (79.5%) parents were included in the analysis. Of these parents, 2,598 (73.6%) were willing, 486 (13.8%) were not willing, and 444 (12.6%) were still undecided to vaccinate their children against COVID-19. Those who were single parent [odds ratio (OR): 2.0, 95% confidence internal (CI): 1.32 – 3.04, p = 0.001], had secondary or lower education (OR: 1.5, 95% CI: 1.21 – 1.96, p < 0.001), worked as healthcare worker (OR: 1.7, 95% CI: 1.34 – 2.26, p < 0.001), had significant contact with COVID-19 (OR: 1.3, 95% CI: 1.09 – 1.63, p = 0.006), and already received COVID-19 vaccine (OR: 15.4, 95% CI: 9.76 – 24.33, p < 0.001) were significantly more willing to vaccinate their children against COVID-19. The common reasons given by parents who were willing to vaccinate their children against COVID-19 include vaccination could protect their children (99.4%), the vaccination could protect other family members (99.3%), and the vaccine was effective (98.2%). The common reasons given by parents who were not willing to vaccinate their children against COVID-19 include the uncertainty towards the new vaccine (96.1%), worry about the vaccine contents (93.2%), limited information about the vaccine from the doctors (82.3%), and believed the vaccine was unsafe (79.8%)Conclusions:Nearly three-quarters of Malaysian parents were willing to vaccinate their children < 12 years old against COVID-19. The COVID-19 vaccination history of the parents was the strongest independent predictor for their willingness to vaccinate their children. Future health education should target parents at risk of vaccine refusal or hesitation, focus to address the common reasons for refusing the COVID-19 vaccine, and highlight the benefits of the COVID-19 vaccine.

Factors Influencing Vaccination Decision among Parents in Malaysia

“…Based on research by Rumetta et al (2019) Ng et al (2021) found that the common reasons given by parents who do not want to be vaccinated against COVID 19 are uncertainty about new vaccines (96.1%), concerns about vaccine content (93.2%), limited information about the vaccine from the doctors (82.3%), and believed the vaccine was unsafe (79.8%).…”