J Korean Med Sci.  2023 Oct;38(42):e315. 10.3346/jkms.2023.38.e315.

Predictors of COVID-19 Vaccine Hesitancy Among Parents of Children Aged 5–11 Years in Korea

• Kim JH
• Yoon D
• Noh Y
• Jung J
• Choe YJ
• Shin JY

• KMID: 2547557
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.3346/jkms.2023.38.e315

Abstract

This was a cross-sectional study using the data collected from a nationwide survey between November and December 2022 to explore factors associated with hesitancy towards coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccination for children. Among 3,011 participants with child aged 5–11 years, 82.5% demonstrated hesitancy towards vaccinating their child. This was more common among mothers (odds ratio 1.84 [95% confidence interval 1.46–2.31]), those residing outside metropolitan area (urban: 2.46 [1.89–3.20]; rural: 2.87 [2.09–3.93]) or with history of COVID-19 diagnosis (2.22 [1.78–2.76]). Parents were also hesitant if their child recently had COVID-19 (3.41 [2.67–4.37]). Conversely, they were less likely to be hesitant if they had three or more children (0.66 [0.46–0.94]) or if their child has underlying medical condition(s) (0.54 [0.41–0.71]). Our findings highlight high prevalence of parental hesitancy towards COVID-19 vaccination for children, and call for targeted outreach efforts from the stakeholders to facilitate the vaccine uptake in this pediatric population.

Keyword

COVID-19; Vaccine Hesitancy; Immunization; Public Health

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