Peer-reviewed article
Vaccination attitudes and intentions reported by Canadian children and their parents in the CHILD Cohort Study during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Medeleanu MV, Gill EE, Winsor GL, Azeez R, Lotoski LC et al. ·
Summary
Written by AI, not yet AICS's view · claude-haiku-4-5-20251001This study examined COVID-19 vaccination attitudes and intentions among 1,458 Canadian children and their parents during 2021-2022. Vaccine hesitancy was low overall (4% of adults, 9% of children), with safety concerns being the main reason for hesitancy. Children's vaccination intentions were strongly aligned with their parents' choices, with children of unvaccinated parents showing much higher hesitancy rates. The findings highlight that family-level factors are important for understanding vaccination uptake.
Key points
- About 4% of adults and 9% of children expressed COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy, primarily due to safety concerns
- By Winter 2022, 2% of parents and 13% of children remained unvaccinated
- Children's vaccine intentions were over 95% aligned with their parents' actual vaccine uptake
- Vaccine hesitancy among children was much higher in families with unvaccinated parents (48% vs. 5% for children of unvaccinated vs. vaccinated mothers)
- Unvaccinated adults were less likely to follow safety recommendations and their doctor's vaccine advice, and more likely to have general vaccine concerns
Limitations
This is an observational study of self-reported attitudes and behaviours in a cohort study sample, so it cannot establish causal relationships or explain the mechanisms behind the strong family concordance in vaccination decisions. The study provides limited information about the specific reasons parents choose not to vaccinate beyond general safety concerns.
Abstract
Background Understanding if and how vaccination attitudes are shared among family members can help inform strategies to increase uptake. We assessed the correlation of self-reported COVID-19 vaccination attitudes and uptake among Canadian children and their parents, and investigated predictors of parents' attitudes in January 2021-2022. Methods We studied a subset of 1458 CHILD Cohort Study households where children and parents self-reported their adherence to COVID-19 safety practices, vaccine attitudes and uptake, and health status during the pandemic. Vaccine hesitancy was defined as intending to not receive a COVID-19 vaccine. We identified predictors for vaccine hesitancy using regression and machine learning models and assessed agreement in vaccine intentions between parent-child responses. Results About 4% of adults and 9% of children expressed hesitancy regarding the COVID-19 vaccine, with safety as the primary concern. By the end of the study (Winter 2022), 2% of parents and 13% of children remained unvaccinated. Children's intentions were largely aligned (over 95%) with their parents' vaccine uptake. COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy among children was much more common in families with unvaccinated parents (e.g. 48% vs. 5% hesitancy among children of unvaccinated vs. vaccinated mothers, respectively). Unvaccinated adults were less likely to follow COVID-19 safety recommendations and follow their doctor's vaccine recommendations, and more likely to have general concerns about vaccines. Conclusion This is the first study to describe Canadian children's and parent's self-reported COVID-19 vaccine attitudes and intentions. Responses were highly concordant within families. Addressing vaccine hesitancy through understanding its root causes in both children and parents is important for pediatric immunization, both in general and in the context of novel vaccines.