The younger their child, the less likely parents will want them to get COVID-19 vaccine, survey finds

The younger their children, the less likely it is that Canadian parents want them vaccinated against COVID-19, research led by the University of Alberta suggests.

In a study published this month in the journal Preventive Medicine, 41.9 per cent of Canadian parents surveyed said they planned to vaccinate children between the ages of six months and 23 months.

The older the child, the more likely parents were to say they did plan to get them vaccinated:

The remaining respondents for each age category either didn't intend to immunize their children or were undecided. 

The data was gathered during an online survey last October and November. The 1,129 parents who responded were selected from a panel of more than 400,000 Canadians from polling firm Leger.

The reported intentions of parents for kids aged five to 11 have been reflected in actual vaccinations: as of June 19, 56 per cent of five- to 11-year-olds had received at least one dose of COVID-19 vaccine.

Earlier this month, Moderna's Spikevax became the first COVID vaccine in Canada to be approved to be administered to children between six months and five years old. Health Canada said there were no safety concerns detected during a study of the vaccine.

Health officials and experts have urged parents to get their children immunized to reduce risk of severe illness and reinfection. 

The survey also gathered responses on parents' reasons for their intentions on COVID-19 immunizations for kids, as well as their preferences for the best way to access vaccines.

Parents' interest in having COVID-19 vaccines made available along with other childhood vaccines was one of the stand-out findings for Robin Humble, a University of Alberta nursing PhD candidate who led the analysis of the data published this month.

"It just speaks to an opportunity for vaccine providers, who have that one-on-one contact when administering routine vaccines for younger kids, to talk about COVID vaccination with parents and promote it as well," Humble said. 

According to the survey results, the majority of parents of kids aged five to 11 would agree to have their child get the COVID-19 vaccine at the same time as the flu shot (55 per cent) or other childhood vaccines (63 per cent). 

Nearly half of the parents of five- to 11-year-olds — 47.9 per cent — were in favour of drop-in clinics, while 63.6 per cent wanted school-based immunization clinics to improve access.

The findings published this month are part of a larger study led by Shannon MacDonald, an associate professor in the faculty of nursing at the U of A.