Parental hesitancy about COVID-19, influenza, HPV, and other childhood vaccines.

Background: Some public health professionals have expressed concern that the COVID-19 pandemic has increased vaccine hesitancy about routine childhood vaccines; however, the differential prevalence of vaccine hesitancy about specific vaccines has not been measured.

Methods: Data from the National Immunization Survey-Child COVID-19 Module (NIS-CCM) were analyzed to assess the proportion of children ages 6 months-17 years who have a parent with hesitancy about: COVID-19, influenza, human papillomavirus (HPV) (for children ≥ 9 years) vaccines, and "all other childhood shots." Interviews from October 2022 through April 2023 were analyzed.

Results: The percentage of children with a vaccine-hesitant parent varied by vaccine. 55.9% of children had a parent hesitant about COVID-19 vaccine, 30.9% hesitant about influenza vaccine, 30.1% hesitant about HPV vaccine, and 12.2% had a parent hesitant about other vaccines such as measles, polio, and tetanus.

Conclusions: The study findings suggest that differential interventions and communications to parents be used to educate about COVID-19, influenza, HPV, and routine childhood vaccinations because the hesitancy levels differ widely.