Parental Perceptions Related to Co-Administration of Adolescent COVID-19 and Routine Vaccines

Courtney A. Gidengil, Andrew M. Parker, Amber M. Gedlinske, Natoshia M. Askelson, Christine A. Petersen, Megan Lindley, Kate R. Woodworth, Aaron M. Scherer

ResearchPosted on rand.org May 2, 2023Published in: Journal of Adolescent Health, Volume 72, Issue 5, pages 667-673 (May 2023). doi: 10.1016/j.jadohealth.2022.11.242

Purpose

Vaccinating adolescents against COVID-19 while avoiding delays in other routine vaccination is paramount to protecting their health. Our objective was to assess parental preferences to have their adolescents aged 12-17 years receive COVID-19 and other routine vaccines at the same time.

Methods

An online survey with a national, quota-based cross-sectional sample of United States parents of youth aged 12-17 years was fielded in April 2021 ahead of FDA's Emergency Use Authorization of COVID-19 vaccine for age 12-15 years. Parents were asked about their willingness to have their adolescents aged 12-17 years receive both COVID-19 and routine vaccines at the same visit and/or to follow their provider's recommendation. Predictors included demographic characteristics, being behind on routine vaccines, and perceived risks and benefits.

Results

Few parents were willing to have their adolescent receive COVID-19 and routine vaccines at the same visit (10.6%) or follow the healthcare provider's recommendation (18.5%). In multivariate analyses, demographic characteristics had no effect on willingness, reporting that the adolescent was behind on routine vaccines correlated with decreased willingness (p=.004). Greater concern about the adolescent getting COVID-19 (p=.001), lower concern about the adolescent having side effects from the COVID-19 vaccine (p=.013), and more positive feelings about vaccines in general (p=.002) were associated with higher willingness.

Discussion

Few parents would prefer to have their adolescents receive COVID-19 and routine vaccines at the same visit. Understanding what drives willingness to receive all recommended vaccines in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic could inform policies to optimize adolescent vaccination.

Read More

Topics

Document Details

  • Copyright: Society for Adolescent Health and Medicine
  • Publisher: Journal of Adolescent Health
  • Availability: Non-RAND
  • Year: 2023
  • Pages: 7
  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.7249/pubs
  • Document Number: EP-70048

This publication is part of the RAND external publication series. Many RAND studies are published in peer-reviewed scholarly journals, as chapters in commercial books, or as documents published by other organizations.

RAND is a nonprofit institution that helps improve policy and decisionmaking through research and analysis. RAND's publications do not necessarily reflect the opinions of its research clients and sponsors.