The thoughts of parents to vaccinate their children against COVID-19: An assessment of situations that may affect them

Introduction: This study examined what affects parents' thoughts about vaccinating their children. We explored whether parents' attitudes towards the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccine and their perception of control of COVID-19 were related to their thoughts about vaccinating their children. Methods: The sample of this descriptive study consisted of parents (n = 274) with children between the ages of 0-12. To collect data on parents' thoughts and opinions participants completed the Attitudes Towards COVID-19 Vaccine Scale and the Perception of Control of COVID-19 Scale. Results: Parents' thoughts about having their children vaccinated were related to a number of children, gender, education status, employment status, death of a relative due to COVID-19, and fear of taking their child to a hospital due to fear of COVID-19. There was a statistically significant relationship between the parents' thought of vaccinating their children against COVID-19 and the mean scores of the Attitudes Toward the COVID-19 Vaccine Scale and the Perception of Control of COVID-19 Scale. Conclusion: It was surprising that parents with a high education level and working parents had negative thoughts about getting their children vaccinated against COVID-19. In addition, parents' attitudes towards COVID-19 vaccine and their perceptions of COVID-19 control were related to parents' thoughts on getting their children vaccinated.

Automated summary

The study explored factors influencing parents' decisions about vaccinating their children, with results indicating that the number of children, gender, education level, employment status, death of a relative due to COVID-19, and fear of taking a child to the hospital due to COVID-19 influenced parents' thoughts. Parents' attitudes towards the COVID-19 vaccine and their perceptions of COVID-19 control were also related to their thoughts on vaccinating their children.