Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2021 Jan:228:87-93.e2.
doi: 10.1016/j.jpeds.2020.08.005. Epub 2020 Aug 7.

Willingness to Vaccinate Children against Influenza after the Coronavirus Disease 2019 Pandemic

Ran D Goldman  1 , Sophie McGregor  1 , Shashidhar R Marneni  2 , Tomohiro Katsuta  3 , Mark A Griffiths  4 , Jeanine E Hall  5 , Michelle Seiler  6 , Eileen J Klein  7 , Cristina Parra Cotanda  8 , Renana Gelernter  9 , Julia Hoeffe  10 , Adrienne L Davis  11 , Gianluca Gualco  12 , Ahmed Mater  13 , Sergio Manzano  14 , Graham C Thompson  15 , Sara Ahmed  16 , Samina Ali  17 , Julie C Brown  7 ; International COVID-19 Parental Attitude Study (COVIPAS) Group
Collaborators, Affiliations

Willingness to Vaccinate Children against Influenza after the Coronavirus Disease 2019 Pandemic

Ran D Goldman et al. J Pediatr. 2021 Jan.

Abstract

Objectives: To determine factors associated with parents who plan to vaccinate their children against influenza next year, especially those who did not vaccinate against influenza last year using a global survey.

Study design: A survey of caregivers accompanying their children aged 1-19 years old in 17 pediatric emergency departments in 6 countries at the peak of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. Anonymous online survey included caregiver and child demographic information, vaccination history and future intentions, and concern about the child and caregiver having COVID-19 at the time of emergency department visit.

Results: Of 2422 surveys, 1314 (54.2%) caregivers stated they plan to vaccinate their child against influenza next year, an increase of 15.8% from the previous year. Of 1459 caregivers who did not vaccinate their children last year, 418 (28.6%) plan to do so next year. Factors predicting willingness to change and vaccinate included child's up-to-date vaccination status (aOR 2.03, 95% CI 1.29-3.32, P = .003); caregivers' influenza vaccine history (aOR 3.26, 95% CI 2.41-4.40, P < .010), and level of concern their child had COVID-19 (aOR 1.09, 95% CI 1.01-1.17, P = .022).

Conclusions: Changes in risk perception due to COVID-19, and previous vaccination, may serve to influence decision-making among caregivers regarding influenza vaccination in the coming season. To promote influenza vaccination among children, public health programs can leverage this information.

Keywords: parental attitudes; vaccine hesitancy.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Flowchart of caregivers' decision to plan to vaccinate their children against influenza next year grouped by their decision to vaccinate themselves and their children against influenza last year. Fourteen surveys were excluded for incomplete responses or surveys filled out by children; 349 surveys excluded of children younger than 1 year old (n = 343), older than 19 years old (n = 3), or did not specify their age (n = 3) at time of survey completion. Unknown are children whose vaccination plan was unspecified.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Percent of caregivers who did not vaccinate their child against influenza last year but plan on having their child vaccinated next year by worry that child has COVID-19. Percentages are based on respondents who disclosed their vaccination plan and their level of COVID-19 worry (n = 1437). χ2 test used for frequencies; χ2 = 19.3, df = 10, P = .037.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Comment in

References

    1. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention . US Department of Health & human Services; Washington, DC: 2020. Estimated influenza illnesses, medical visits, hospitalizations, and deaths in the United States—2018-2019 influenza season [Internet]https://www.cdc.gov/flu/about/burden/2018-2019.html Accessed August 18, 2020.
    1. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention . US Department of Health & human Services; Washington, DC: 2019. Flu vaccine coverage, United States 2018-19 influenza season [Internet]https://www.cdc.gov/flu/fluvaxview/coverage-1819estimates.htm Accessed August 18, 2020.
    1. Singer B. COVID-19 and the next influenza season. Sci Adv. 2020;6:eabd0086. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Thanh Le T., Andreadakis Z., Kumar A., Romàn R., Tollefsen S., Saville M. The COVID-19 vaccine development landscape. Nat Rev Drug Discov. 2020;19:305–306. - PubMed
    1. Broadfoot M. Scientific American; New York, NY: 2020. Coronavirus and the Flu: A Looming Double Threat [Internet] Sci Am 2020.https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/coronavirus-and-the-flu-a-loo... Accessed August 18, 2020.

MeSH terms

Substances