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. 2025 Sep 17:63:127618.
doi: 10.1016/j.vaccine.2025.127618. Epub 2025 Aug 23.

Parental intent to vaccinate children with the updated 2023-2024 COVID-19 vaccine

Holly C Groom  1 , Jennifer L Kuntz  2 , Alexandra M Varga  2 , Ning Smith  2 , Evelin Coto  2 , Sarah N Cox  3 , Tara M Babu  3 , Melissa Briggs-Hagen  4 , Collrane Frivold  3 , Sharon Saydah  4 , Richard A Mularski  2 , Cassandra Boisvert  2 , Mark Drummond  3 , Leora R Feldstein  4 , Stephen P Fortmann  2 , Melissa P MacMillan  3 , Devon McDonald  3 , Madison Hollcroft  3 , Claire M Midgley  4 , Ian D Plumb  4 , Sacha Reich  2 , Mark A Schmidt  2 , Neil Yetz  2 , Hanna Grioni  5 , Kathryn M McCaffrey  6 , Tara L Hatchie  3 , Natalie Lo  3 , Christina Lockwood  7 , Lea Starita  7 , Janet A Englund  8 , Ana A Weil  3 , Marco Carone  3 , Helen Y Chu  3 , Allison L Naleway  2
Affiliations

Parental intent to vaccinate children with the updated 2023-2024 COVID-19 vaccine

Holly C Groom et al. Vaccine. .

Abstract

Background: The updated 2023-24 COVID-19 vaccine was available in the United States beginning September 2023. Our objective was to identify reasons for decisions related to vaccination of children in the household.

Methods: In December 2023, adults in Oregon and Washington were asked whether they or their household children had received the 2023-24 COVID-19 vaccination. Adults with unvaccinated children were asked about intentions to vaccinate and to rank the top three reasons for their decision. Vaccine concordance between adults and household children was assessed.

Results: Among 1067 adult participants, 33 % (n = 352) of adults reported at least one unvaccinated household child: 23 % intended to vaccinate and 10 % did not intend to vaccinate. Among 243 adults who intended to vaccinate, 73 % selected "if there is more severe illness in my school or community", as a primary reason; the highest ranked reason among those not intending to vaccinate was the belief that their child would not become severely ill (66 %). 78 % of adults made the same vaccine decisions for themselves and their children.

Conclusion: Participant's perception of their child's individual risk from SARS-CoV-2 infection was the primary consideration impacting vaccine uptake and intent for 2023-24 COVID-19 vaccine.

Keywords: Attitudes; COVID-19 vaccine; Vaccine.

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Conflict of interest statement

Declaration of competing interest The authors declare the following financial interests/personal relationships which may be considered as potential competing interests: Holly C. Groom, Jennifer L. Kuntz, Alexandra M. Varga, Ning Smith, Evelin Coto, Sarah N. Cox, Tara M. Babu, Collrane Frivold, Richard A. Mularski, Cassandra Boisvert, Mark Drummond, Stephen P. Fortmann, Melissa P. MacMillan, Devon McDonald, Madison Hollcroft, Sacha Reich, Mark A. Schmidt, Neil Yetz, Hanna Grioni, Kathryn M. McCaffrey, Tara L. Hatchie, Natalie Lo, Christina Lockwood, Lea Starita, Janet A. Englund, Ana A. Weil, Marco Carone, Helen Y. Chu, Allison L. Naleway report financial support was provided by Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for this study. Holly Groom reports a relationship with Astra Zeneca that includes: funding grants. Mark Schmidt reports a relationship with Astra Zeneca that includes: funding grants. Jennifer Kuntz reports a relationship with Astra Zeneca that includes: funding grants. Jennifer Kuntz reports a relationship with Vir Biotechnology that includes: funding grants. Jennifer Kuntz reports a relationship with Pfizer, Inc. that includes: funding grants. Jennifer Kuntz reports a relationship with Novartis that includes: funding grants. Ana Weil reports a relationship with Pfizer Inc that includes: funding grants Stephen Fortmann reports a relationship with Pfizer Inc that includes: funding grants Richard Mularski reports a relationship with Pfizer Inc that includes: funding grants Richard Mularski reports a relationship with Gilead that includes: funding grants Tara Babu reports a relationship with Sanofi that includes: advisory board Janet Englund reports a relationship ship with Astra Zeneca that includes: funding grants. Janet Englund reports a relationship ship with GlaxoSmithKline that includes: funding grants Janet Englund reports a relationship ship with Merck that includes: funding grants Janet Englund reports a relationship ship with Moderna that includes: funding grants Janet Englund reports a relationship ship with Pfizer that includes: funding grants Janet Englund reports a relationship with Astra Zeneca that includes: consultation Janet Englund reports a relationship with GlaxoSmithKline that includes: consultation Janet Englund reports a relationship with Merck that includes: consultation Janet Englund reports a relationship with Moderna that includes: consultation Janet Englund reports a relationship with Pfizer that includes: consultation If there are other authors, they declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.

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