The COVID States Project #74: Parental Concerns Over COVID Vaccines for Kids

In the U.S., children ages 5 and older are now eligible for COVID-19 vaccination, after the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine received emergency authorization from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in early November 2021. The vaccine had previously been authorized for youth ages 12-17 in Spring 2021. As of December 16, the CDC reported that more than 7 million vaccine doses had been administered to children ages 5-11, and adverse events of concern –those that were resolved with a mild clinical course– had only been identified in less than a dozen kids.How are parents feeling about childhood COVID-19 vaccination in the face of new authorizations and relatively few adverse events of concern? Previously, we examined parents’ concerns about vaccinating kids against COVID-19 in June 2021 and September 2021. In these earlier reports, we discovered that parents’ top five concerns regarding childhood COVID-19 vaccination were: how new the vaccine is, whether the vaccine has been tested enough, whether the vaccine actually works, the short term side effects of the vaccine, and long term side effects of the vaccine. We found that these five parental concerns increased from June to September across several demographic groups. Further, in a separate report we also found that COVID-19 vaccination rates for minors have plateaued from September to November 2021.Now, using survey data from November 2021, we provide an update on the prevalence of these five parental concerns regarding child COVID-19 vaccination, building on the descriptive report about parental intentions from November 2021 survey data. We also examine tendencies and shifts over time for subpopulations of parents, such as by political partisanship, race/ethnicity, gender and age, population density, education level, and likelihood of vaccinating their kids against COVID-19.

Vaccine Hesitancy in the Time of COVID-19: Attitudes and Intentions of Teens and Parents Regarding the COVID-19 Vaccine

To assess attitudes and intentions related to the COVID-19 vaccine during the pandemic, we surveyed adolescents aged 13–18 years and the parents of 13–18-year-olds using national research panels on three occasions or “waves”: before the COVID-19 vaccine was available, after it was available for adults, and after it was available for ages ≥12 years. Data on experiences with COVID-19, the importance of adolescent vaccines, and intentions regarding COVID-19 vaccination were analyzed across time points. We found that parental concerns about vaccine safety significantly increased from Wave 1 to 2. Social media had a negative influence on parents’ and adolescents’ opinions about vaccine safety. Demographic variables were associated with vaccination rates reported in Wave 3, consistent with known inequities related to vaccine access. Parents (70%) were supportive of concomitant COVID-19 vaccination with other adolescent vaccines for teens. It is important to address variables associated with vaccine hesitancy to increase COVID-19 vaccine coverage rates in the US.

Social media and online safety practices of young parents

Studies of parents’ online safety concerns typically centre on information privacy and on worries over unknown third parties preying on children, whereas investigations into youth perspectives on online safety have found young people to focus on threats to safety or reputation by known individuals. The case of youth who are themselves parents raises questions regarding how these differing perspectives are negotiated by individuals who are in dual roles as youth and parents. Using interview and ethnographic observation data from the longitudinal Young Parent Study in British Columbia, Canada, this analysis investigates social media and online safety practices of 113 young parents. Online safety concerns of young parents in this study focused on personal safety, their children’s online privacy and image management. These concerns reflect their dual roles, integrating youth image and information management concerns with parental concerns over the safety and information privacy of their own children.

Parents intention to vaccinate their 5-11 years old children with the COVID-19: vaccine rates, predictors and the role of incentives

Background: On September 20, 2021, Pfizer announced encouraging effectiveness and safety results from their COVID-19 vaccine clinical trials in 5-11 years old children. This study aims to assess parents perceptions and intention to vaccinate their 5-11 years old children and to determine the socio-demographic, health-related and behavioral factors, as well as the role of incentives beyond these factors, in predicting this intention. Methods: A cross-sectional representative online survey among parents of children aged 5-11 years in Israel (n=1,012). The survey was carried out between September 23 and October 4, 2021, at a critical time, immediately after Pfizers announcement. Two multivariate regressions were performed to determine predictors of parents intention to vaccinate their 5-11 years old children against COVID-19 in the coming winter and how soon they intend to do so. Results: Overall, 57% of the participants reported their intention to vaccinate their 5-11 years old children against COVID-19 in the coming winter. This intention was higher for participants over the age of 40. Perceived susceptibility, perceived benefits, perceived barriers, and cues to action, as well as two incentives - vaccine availability and receiving a green pass - were all significant predictors of this intention. When asked about how soon they intend to vaccinate their 5-11 years old children, 27% of the participants responded immediately; 26% within three months; and 24% within more than three months. Participants having a family member suffering from a chronic disease as well as those whose children were vaccinated against influenza in the previous winter intend to vaccinate their children sooner. Perceived susceptibility, perceived severity, perceived benefits, perceived barriers, and cues to action, were all found to be significant predictors of this sense of urgency. Similar to the intention to vaccinate children in the coming winter, while vaccine availability and receiving a green pass were found to be positive significant predictors of how soon parents intend to vaccinate their children, other incentives such as monetary rewards or monetary penalties were not found to be significant predictors. Parental concerns centered around the safety of the vaccine (64%), fear of severe side effects (60%), and fear that clinical trials and the authorization process were carried out too quickly (56%). Conclusions: This study provides up-to-date information on the rates of the intention of parents to vaccinate their 5-11 years old children, how soon they intend to do so, and the predictors of those intentions, which is essential for health policy makers and healthcare providers for planning vaccination campaigns. Moreover, as vaccine safety and side effects were found to be key parental concerns, it is important to release post-approval safety data regarding the vaccine to the public as soon as such is available. Finally, our findings underscore the important role of vaccine accessibility and receiving a green pass over other incentives in promoting parents intentions to vaccinate their children.

Parents perceptions and intention to vaccinate their children against COVID-19: Results from a cross-sectional national survey in India

Background Despite the success of adult vaccination against COVID-19, providing vaccines to children remains a challenge for policymakers globally. As parents are primary decision-makers for their children, we aimed to assess parents perceptions and intentions regarding COVID-19 vaccination in India. Methods A cross-sectional web-based study was designed, parents or caregivers (N=770) were recruited through snowball sampling using Google form. Cross-tabulation was performed by parents intention to vaccinate their children against COVID-19 virus with sociodemographic characteristics and their risk perception towards COVID-19, trust in the healthcare system, and their history of vaccine hesitancy behavior. Multivariable logistic regression analysis was performed to compute the predictors of child vaccination intention among Indian parents. Results Seven hundred seventy parents across the country have completed the survey. Of the 770 participants, 258 (33.5%) have shown intent to vaccinate their children. The stated likelihood of child vaccination was greater among parents who had a bachelors degree or higher education (aOR: 1.98, 95% CI: 1.15-3.51); as well as among parents who intended to vaccinate themselves (aOR: 2.35, 95% CI: 1.30-4.67). Parental concerns centered around vaccine safety and side effects. Conclusion Indian parents reported high knowledge of the COVID-19 virus and were aware of the development of a novel vaccine. However, about one-third of parents intended to vaccinate their children, and about half of them were not sure whether to vaccinate their children or not against the COVID-19 virus. The study highlighted the need for health promotion strategies that promote vaccine uptake among parents.

The COVID States Project #68: Heightened parental concerns about COVID-19 vaccinations for children

In early October 2021, Pfizer and BioNTech asked the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to authorize their COVID-19 vaccine for children between the ages of 5 and 11. The success of vaccinating children is, however, still contingent upon whether parents feel their children should get the COVID-19 vaccine.Before the pandemic, vaccine hesitancy among parents was prevalent in certain pockets of the US. Parental vaccine hesitancy led to decreased inoculation rates among children for immunizations such as the MMR vaccine. This subsequently led to outbreaks of previously-eradicated diseases - like the measles - among children in states such as Washington and New York in 2018, and Minnesota in 2017.With the COVID-19 vaccine, parental vaccine hesitancy could similarly lead to higher levels of COVID-19 cases among minors, while also transmitting the disease to other populations. Investigating parental vaccine concerns is important in understanding and addressing parental vaccine hesitancy surrounding COVID-19. For this reason, in June 2021 we asked parents across the country about various concerns regarding childhood COVID-19 vaccination. We isolated their top five concerns: how new the vaccine is, whether the vaccine has been tested enough, whether the vaccine actually works, immediate side effects of the vaccine, and long-term side effects of the vaccine. We asked parents about these concerns again in September 2021 to detect shifts over time.Across the board, we find that the proportion of parents who felt these five items were major concerns increased substantially. We also find that several groups tend to express more concern over vaccinating their children against COVID-19, including younger mothers, parents of younger children, parents of children who have not yet been vaccinated, Republicans and Independents, Hispanic and Black parents, the non-college educated, and rural residents.We also asked parents about the likelihood of vaccinating their kids against COVID-19. We found significant proportions of parental vaccine hesitancy. For instance, 34% of parents with kids under 12 said it was unlikely that they would vaccinate their children against COVID-19. Further, the likelihood of parents vaccinating their children against COVID-19 was highly related to parental vaccination status and mode of student instruction.Parents having concerns about vaccinating their children does not automatically result in vaccine hesitancy, and it is also possible that the vaccine hesitant adopt heightened concerns because they are vaccine hesitant. That said, the concerns and motivations driving COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy among parents should be examined more closely.

The Effect of Oral Motor Therapy on Feeding Difficulties and Eating Behaviors in Younger ASD Children

Background: A variety of feeding difficulties like aversion of food, food selectivity, complete food refusal are the most common problems reported by the Parents of ASD children. Every parent of ASD children struggles to manage their child’s feeding routine as well as undesirable mealtime behaviours, which can cause parental concern and poor family dynamics. Aim: 1) The aim of this study is to analyze the effect of dedicated oral motor work in children with ASD who presented with feeding difficulty. 2) To determine parental concerns related to feeding behavior shown by their child and assess whether an additional home program in parallel with oral motor work by an Occupational Therapist would provide any benefits. Methods: This is a pre and post study where a total number of 18 ASD children at the age of 2-4 year old were participated and selected through BPFAS, out of which 15 copies were considered to be concerned with the oral motor and feeding difficulties of the child. Therefore, 15 participants who were facing feeding difficulties with their children were recruited. Concerned Participants were further assessed by Occupational therapist with the help of ‘The com deall Oro-motor assessment scale for toddlers’. Results: According to The Com Deall Oral-motor assessment scale, some changes observed in the oral motor skills and When parental concern is considered via home plan including mealtime strategies with oral motor activities, the post intervention result showed decrease in Total problem score as well as in Total frequency score. Conclusion: The study concluded that continuous structured direct oral motor work as well as addressing parental concerns via home programs is helpful for the ASD children and gives better understanding of feeding difficulties to their parents. Also, some changes have been seen in oral motor skills through continuous practice of oral motor activities by the therapist.

Neonatal presentations to the paediatric emergency department in Singapore

Introduction: This study aimed to characterise neonatal paediatric emergency department (PED) visits, analyse the main paediatric illnesses and establish associations of these demographics with the readmission rates and severity of their presentation. Methods: A retrospective analysis of neonates (aged < 28 days) presenting to the PEDs of our hospital over seven months was performed. Associations between the clinical and demographic data of admissions to the PED and inpatient admissions were analysed. Results: In total, 1,200 neonates presented during the study period, 79.4% of whom presented at less than 15 days since birth. Length of stay in the PED was less than four hours for 94.0% of the neonates. Predominant triage categories comprised non-P1 cases (97.5%). The main diagnoses at the PED were neonatal jaundice (NNJ; 66.8%) and neonatal pyrexia (NNP; 14.6%), which corresponded to the main diagnoses upon discharge from the hospital: NNJ (68.4%) and NNP (19.6%). 48.2% of neonates were referred from polyclinics or other clinics. 57.7% of the neonates were admitted. Interestingly, 87.0% of the well babies who presented to the emergency department were brought in owing to parental concerns by the parents themselves, without prior consultation with the doctor. Conclusion: Outpatient management of NNJ can be considered. Caregivers should be provided better education regarding normal physiological characteristics of newborns through standardised educational materials. Other potential avenues for parents to seek medical advice, for example hotlines and ChatBots such as the recently piloted ‘Urgent Paediatric Advice Line’ online service, should be considered.