Factors Contributing to Parental COVID-19 Vaccine Hesitancy

Vaccine hesitancy is a top ten threat to global health. Approximately 68% of the global population has received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, however vaccine uptake rates vary starkly across countries. Twenty percent of children in the United States have a vaccine hesitant parent. Parents are unique because they make medical decisions for their dependent children. Determinants of parental vaccine hesitancy have been shown to vary across vaccines and disease. With the widespread effects of COVID-19, understanding how parental vaccine hesitancy towards COVID-19 vaccines differ from other infectious diseases can help us better address COVID-19. Articles were found through searches in PubMed and Scopus databases, then screened in RefWorks in adherence with the preferred reporting items for systematic reviews and meta-analysis protocol (PRISMA-P) guidelines. Screened results were included in the final review if articles were peer reviewed, in English, original research articles, studied children between the ages of 5-17 years old, and measured outcomes such as vaccine intentions and hesitancy in parents and vaccine uptake in children. Seventeen articles were included in the final sample of papers analyzed. Common determinants of parental vaccine hesitancy were tied to safety and efficacy concerns, lack of trust in vaccine manufacturers or the government and lower perceived risks of getting COVID-19. Determinants of parental hesitancy for COVID-19 vaccines overlapped with determinants of parental vaccine hesitancy to other vaccines indicating that interventions towards addressing parental vaccine hesitancy can be utilized in overcoming parental vaccine hesitancy to COVID-19 vaccines