Parental concerns on COVID-19 vaccine safety and hesitancy in Korea: Implications for vaccine communication

• Published in: Epidemiology and health p. 004
• Main Authors: Cho Hye-Kyung, 이현주, Choe Young June, 김신경, 서수진, 문지원, 최은화, Kwon Geun-Yong, Shin Jeeyeon, Choi Sang-Yoon, Jeong Mi Jin, 유명순
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: 한국역학회 01.01.2023
• Subjects: 예방의학
• ISSN: 2092-7193
• DOI: 10.4178/epih.e2023004

OBJECTIVES Vaccination is one of the most important strategies to contain the spread of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Vaccination in children is dependent on their parents, making it important to understand parents’ awareness and attitudes toward vaccines in order to devise strategies to raise vaccination rates in children. METHODS A web-based nationwide survey was conducted among Korean parents of 7-year-old to 18-year-old children in August 2021 to estimate parents’ intention to vaccinate their children against COVID-19 and identify key factors affecting parental acceptance and hesitancy through regression analysis. RESULTS Approximately 56.4% (575/1,019) were willing to vaccinate their children against COVID-19. Contributing factors to COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy were being a mother (adjusted odds ratio [aOR], 0.36; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.25 to 0.52), a lower education level (aOR, 0.83; 95% CI, 0.70 to 0.97), hesitancy to other childhood vaccines (aOR, 0.78; 95% CI, 0.64 to 0.96), and refusal to vaccinate themselves (aOR, 0.08; 95% CI, 0.02 to 0.20). Having older children (aOR, 1.20; 95% CI, 1.13 to 1.28), trusting the child’s doctor (aOR, 1.19; 95% CI, 1.07 to 1.32), positive perceptions of the COVID-19 vaccine’s effectiveness (aOR, 2.60; 95% CI, 1.90 to 3.57) and perceiving the COVID-19 vaccine as low-risk (aOR, 1.68; 95% CI, 1.27 to 2.24) were associated with COVID-19 vaccine acceptance. Concerns about adverse reactions were the most common cause of hesitancy. CONCLUSIONS Providing parents with accurate and reliable information on vaccine effectiveness and safety is important to increase COVID-19 vaccine uptake in children. Differential or targeted approaches to parents according to gender, age, and their children’s age are necessary for effective communication about vaccination in children. KCI Citation Count: 0