Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Factors Influencing the Parents’ Decision on Getting Their Children Vaccinated Against COVID-19

  • Original Paper
  • Published:
SN Comprehensive Clinical Medicine Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

COVID-19 immunization rates in children have remained low compared to adults. The aim of the study was to investigate the thoughts and attitudes of parents about childhood COVID-19 vaccination and the reasons for having their children vaccinated with COVID-19 vaccines or not. A survey with quantitative and qualitative parts was administered to the participants who had at least one child aged 12–18 years who were included in the study. Parents were randomly selected to participate in the study. The parent and the child’s demographic characteristics, chronic disease status, history of COVID-19, history of hospitalization due to COVID-19, and the parent’s knowledge of COVID-19 complications in children were queried. The reasons for having and not having their children vaccinated were investigated with a qualitative survey. 42.2% of the participants had at least one child vaccinated. Having the child vaccinated showed a significant relationship with the parent’s age, vaccination status, booster status, the presence of a chronic disorder, the number of children aged 12–18 years, and being informed about long COVID-19. Older, self-vaccinated parents were more likely to have their children vaccinated. Vaccinated children were older than the unvaccinated group and had a higher frequency of chronic diseases. The vaccine acceptance for the children remained low despite the high vaccination rates among parents. Vaccination strategies in children need to be reviewed, considering both the clinical conditions that SARS-CoV-2 could cause in children in the future and the acceptance rate of the vaccines for children by the parents.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

Data Availability

This would be available at reasonable requests.

Code Availability

This would be available at reasonable requests.

References

  1. Bergeri I, Whelan MG, Ware H, Subissi L, Nardone A, Lewis HC, et al. Global SARS-CoV-2 seroprevalence from January 2020 to April 2022: a systematic review and meta-analysis of standardized population-based studies. PLoS Med. 2022;19(11):e1004107.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  2. Bourguiba A, AbuHijleh S, Nached Y, Waleed D, Farghaly S, AlOlama FJC. Assessing parents’ knowledge, attitudes, and practices toward vaccinating children (five to 15 years old) against COVID-19 in the United Arab Emirates. Cureus. 2022;14(12)

  3. Vatcharavongvan P, Boonyanitchayakul N, Khampachuea P, Sinturong I, Prasert V. Health belief model and parents' acceptance of the Pfizer-BioNTech and Sinopharm COVID-19 vaccine for children aged 5-18 years old: a national survey. Vaccine. 2023;41(8):1480–9.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  4. Zhou Y, Li GX, Zhao TS, Du J, Zhang WX, Xie MZ, et al. Parents' willingness to vaccinate themselves and their children with the booster vaccine against SARS-CoV-2: a cross-sectional study in Puyang city, China. J Med Virol. 2023;95(1):e28256.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  5. Yigit M, Ince YE, Kalayci F, Santaflioglu B, Kurt F, Ozkaya-Parlakay A, et al. The impact of childhood and parental vaccination on SARS-CoV-2 infection rates in children. Pediatr Infect Dis J. 2022;41(10):841–5.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  6. T C. Sağlık Bakanlığı COVID-19 Aşısı Bilgilendirme Platformu. Günlük Aşı Verileri. [Accessed 10 April 2022]. Available from: https://covid19asi.saglik.gov.tr/.

  7. World Health Organization SAGE updates COVID-19 vaccination guidance. 2023. Accessed 10 March 2023. Available from: https://www.who.int/news/item/28-03-2023-sage-updates-covid-19-vaccination-guidance.

    Google Scholar 

  8. Khatatbeh M, Albalas S, Khatatbeh H, Momani W, Melhem O, Al Omari O, et al. Children’s rates of COVID-19 vaccination as reported by parents, vaccine hesitancy, and determinants of COVID-19 vaccine uptake among children: a multi-country study from the Eastern Mediterranean Region. BMC Public Health. 2022;22(1):1375.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  9. Goldman RD, Yan TD, Seiler M, Parra Cotanda C, Brown JC, Klein EJ, et al. Caregiver willingness to vaccinate their children against COVID-19: cross sectional survey. Vaccine. 2020;38(48):7668–73.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  10. Babicki M, Pokorna-Kałwak D, Doniec Z, Mastalerz-Migas A. Attitudes of parents with regard to vaccination of children against COVID-19 in Poland A nationwide online survey. Vaccine. 2021;9(10):1192.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  11. Yılmaz M, Sahin MK. Parents’ willingness and attitudes concerning the COVID-19 vaccine: a cross-sectional study. Int J Clin Pract. 2021;75(9):e14364.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  12. Nurmi J, Harman B. Why do parents refuse childhood vaccination? Reasons reported in Finland. Scand J Public Health. 2022;50(4):490–6.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  13. Nikolopoulou GB, Maltezou HC. COVID-19 in children: where do we stand? Arc Med Res. 2022;53(1):1–8.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  14. Posfay-Barbe KM, Wagner N, Gauthey M, Moussaoui D, Loevy N, Diana A, et al. COVID-19 in children and the dynamics of infection in families. Pediatrics. 2020;146(2)

  15. Maltezou HC, Vorou R, Papadima K, Kossyvakis A, Spanakis N, Gioula G, et al. Transmission dynamics of SARS-CoV-2 within families with children in Greece: a study of 23 clusters. J Med Virol. 2021;93(3):1414–20.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  16. Erem E, Kışlal FM. The knowledge level and attitude of the parents about COVID-19 vaccination in children: a single-center survey study. J Med Palliat Care. 3(3):254–62.

  17. Ma Y, Ren J, Zheng Y, Cai D, Li S, Li Y. Chinese parents' willingness to vaccinate their children against COVID-19: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Front Public Health. 2022;10:1087295.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  18. Szilagyi PG, Shah MD, Delgado JR, Thomas K, Vizueta N, Cui Y, et al. Parents’ intentions and perceptions about COVID-19 vaccination for their children: results from a national survey. Pediatrics. 2021;148(4):e2021052335.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  19. Jutzeler CR, Bourguignon L, Weis CV, Tong B, Wong C, Rieck B, et al. Comorbidities, clinical signs and symptoms, laboratory findings, imaging features, treatment strategies, and outcomes in adult and pediatric patients with COVID-19: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Travel Med Infect Dis. 2020;37:101825.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  20. Temsah M-H, Alhuzaimi AN, Aljamaan F, Bahkali F, Al-Eyadhy A, Alrabiaah A, et al. Parental attitudes and hesitancy about COVID-19 vs. routine childhood vaccinations: a national survey. Front. Public Health. 2021;9:752323.

    Google Scholar 

  21. Urrunaga-Pastor D, Herrera-Añazco P, Uyen-Cateriano A, Toro-Huamanchumo CJ, Rodriguez-Morales AJ, Hernandez AV, et al. Prevalence and factors associated with parents’ non-intention to vaccinate their children and adolescents against COVID-19 in Latin America and the Caribbean. Vaccines. 2021;9(11):1303.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  22. Benites-Zapata VA, Herrera-Añazco P, Benites-Meza JK, Bonilla-Aguilar K, Urrunaga-Pastor D, Bendezu-Quispe G, et al. Prevalence of parents' non-intention to vaccinate their children and adolescents against COVID-19: a comparative analysis in Colombia and Peru. Vaccine X. 2022;12:100198.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  23. Al-Wutayd O, Al-Batanony M, Badr N, Abdelwanees S. Parents’ intentions and associated factors to vaccinating their children aged 12–17 years with COVID-19 vaccines: a cross sectional study. Vaccines. 2022;10(6):912.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  24. Musa S, Dergaa I, Abdulmalik MA, Ammar A, Chamari K, Saad HB. BNT162b2 COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy among parents of 4023 young adolescents (12–15 years) in Qatar. Vaccines. 2021;9(9):981.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  25. Montalti M, Rallo F, Guaraldi F, Bartoli L, Po G, Stillo M, et al. Would parents get their children vaccinated against SARS-CoV-2? Rate and predictors of vaccine hesitancy according to a survey over 5000 families from Bologna, Italy. Vaccines. 2021;9(4):366.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  26. Chemaitelly H, AlMukdad S, Ayoub HH, Altarawneh HN, Coyle P, Tang P, et al. COVID-19 vaccine protection among children and adolescents in Qatar. N Engl J Med. 2022;387(20):1865–76.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Family Medicine, Ankara City Hospital, Ankara, Turkey

    Kübra Tanrıkulu

  2. Department of Pediatric Infectious Disease, Ankara City Hospital, Faculty of Medicine, Ankara Yıldırım Beyazıt University, Üniversiteler Mahallesi, Bilkent Caddesi, Çankaya, Ankara, Turkey

    Gülsüm İclal Bayhan

Authors
  1. Kübra Tanrıkulu
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Gülsüm İclal Bayhan
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Contributions

G.İ.B: concept, analysis, and writing; K.T.: data collection, analysis, and writing.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Gülsüm İclal Bayhan.

Ethics declarations

Ethics Approval

Received from Ankara City Hospital Ethics committee.

Consent to Participate

Received.

Consent for Publication

Not applicable.

Conflict of Interest

The authors declare no competing interests.

Additional information

Publisher’s Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

This article is part of the Topical Collection on COVID-19

Rights and permissions

Springer Nature or its licensor (e.g. a society or other partner) holds exclusive rights to this article under a publishing agreement with the author(s) or other rightsholder(s); author self-archiving of the accepted manuscript version of this article is solely governed by the terms of such publishing agreement and applicable law.

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Tanrıkulu, K., Bayhan, G.İ. Factors Influencing the Parents’ Decision on Getting Their Children Vaccinated Against COVID-19. SN Compr. Clin. Med. 5, 180 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s42399-023-01522-z

Download citation

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s42399-023-01522-z

Keywords

Search

Navigation