Abstract
Background: The development of the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (Covid-19) vaccine has been recommended for its safety and efficacy in safeguarding against illness, hospitalisation, and fatality. However, parent’ reluctance to vaccinate their children is greatly influenced by factors beyond the availability of vaccines. Therefore, comprehending the factors associated with parental vaccine hesitancy is crucial for the development the effective Covid-19 vaccine intervention programmes.
Aim: This study aimed to determine the parental Covid-19 vaccine hesitancy regarding their children aged 5–11 years old at UMzimkhulu Sub-district in KwaZulu-Natal Province.
Methods: An analytical cross-sectional study was carried out from March to June 2024 among parents with children aged 5 to 11 years in the uMzimkhulu Sub-district of KwaZulu-Natal Province, South Africa. Each parent completed a self-administered questionnaire for one eligible child to avoid duplication from parents with multiple children in the targeted group. Participants were chosen using a simple random sampling method as they visited the facility for general consultations and their children's immunisations. A sample size of 350 participants was collected from parents. Data was collected using structured questionnaires. The Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) was utilised for data analysis. Descriptive analysis reported proportions and frequencies. The bivariate analysis was done to determine the associations using crude odds ratios (OR), and a p-value ≤ 0.05 was set as the level of significance at the 95% confidence interval (CI). Multivariate analysis (adjusted odds ratios) was used to determine the significant associations. Factors that were significant in the bivariate analyses were included in the adjustedmodel. The significance level for the adjusted model will be a p-value of ≤ 0.05
Results:Most of parents were women (92.6%), aged between 30 and 39 years (54.3%), were unemployed (58.0%), and had a secondary school education (41.1%). The study found a high prevalence of parental COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy (85.4%) and low vaccine uptake among children aged 5 -11 years old (14.6%). Gender (cOR: 0.17; CI: 0.13-0.24; p< 0.001), age (cOR 0.06; CI: 0.01-0.39; p< 0.001); primary educational level (aOR: 0.06; 0.13-0.24; p< 0.001; tertiary (cOR: 0, 25; CI: 0.15-0.42; p< 0.001; aOR:0.07; 0.01-0.60; p= 0.015) and unemployed (aOR: 0.36; CI0.13-0.97; p= 0.043) were significantly associated with the likelihood of parents vaccinating their children against Covid-19. Chronic medication use (p< 0.001), chronic illness (p< 0.001), and history of vaccination (p< 0.001) of the children were significantly associated with Covid-19 vaccination status. Similarly, parents’ knowledge, attitude, and perceptions, such as Covid-19 vaccination in children can be fatal (aOR: 0.29, CI: 0.14- 0.60, p< 0.001), was associated with lower odds of parents vaccinating their children...