Caregivers' vaccine hesitancy- a scoping review

Aims/Background: Vaccine hesitancy refers to delay in acceptance or refusal of vaccination despite its availability. COVID19 pandemic has increased public concerns towards vaccines hence influences the acceptance to the existing vaccination program in primary care. We aim to summarize the prevalence and factors associated with childhood vaccine hesitancy among caregivers. Methodology: This scoping review was conducted in accordance with PRISMA-ScR checklist. Scopus®, Cochrane Library and PubMed® databases were searched and filtered to include full-text English articles published from January 2016 to November 2021. Results: 83 articles were eligible out of 576 articles retrieved. Half were cross-sectional studies and published within the last 2 years. 39% articles were from USA, Canada and Italy. The mean prevalence of vaccine hesitancy was 25.8% (3%-50.6%). Caregivers’ factors which were belief, knowledge and attitude about health (78%), trust to health system (33.7%) and socio-demographic (32.5%) formed the major theme while other themes were less significant: contextual factors (13%), healthcare worker (9%), and vaccine’s specific (3%). Conclusion: An emerging issue during COVID19 pandemic especially in developed countries, vaccine hesitancy requires multi-interventional approach to increase caregivers’ confidence and competence in vaccination for their children