U C Samudyatha, Bhavyashree Balaji, Meghna Singh, Megha Gowda
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引用次数: 0
Abstract
Objective: This study aimed to document caregivers' perceptions and preferences regarding coronavirus disease-19 (COVID-19) vaccination among children.
Methods: This cross-sectional study analyzed 272 caregivers with 347 children (aged 1-18 years) attending a subdistrict rural hospital in February-March 2022.
Results: Vaccine acceptance was high (93.4%). Although fear of side effects was the most common reason not to vaccinate, a higher proportion of caregivers willing to vaccinate children had consulted healthcare personnel to clarify queries related to side effects. Familiar vaccination sites, where children had previously received routine immunization (RI), such as government hospitals, and Anganwadis (community-based childcare centers) where vaccines were available free of cost on all working days, were the most preferred for COVID-19 vaccination, followed by schools. Only 5.5% of the caregivers preferred private hospitals. Vaccination at home was desired for chronically ill and out-of-school children. RI as per age was associated with the willingness to vaccinate. In addition to protection from COVID-19, other benefits identified by willing parents were being able to attend schools, recreation, and travel.
Conclusions: Out-of-school children, children left or missed out in RI, and children with chronic illness can be at risk of being left out for COVID-19 vaccination and can be included by expanding vaccination services house-to-house as in adults. Media engagement and communication must be interactive to address issues, such as fear of side effects, and promote additional benefits of vaccination.
期刊介绍：
The Medeniyet Medical Journal (Medeniyet Med J) is an open access, peer-reviewed, and scientific journal of Istanbul Medeniyet University Faculty of Medicine on various academic disciplines in medicine, which is published in English four times a year, in March, June, September, and December by a group of academics. Medeniyet Medical Journal is the continuation of Göztepe Medical Journal (ISSN: 1300-526X) which was started publishing in 1985. It changed the name as Medeniyet Medical Journal in 2015. Submission and publication are free of charge. No fees are asked from the authors for evaluation or publication process. All published articles are available online in the journal website (www.medeniyetmedicaljournal.org) without any fee. The journal publishes intradisciplinary or interdisciplinary clinical, experimental, and basic researches as well as original case reports, reviews, invited reviews, or letters to the editor, Being published since 1985, the Medeniyet Med J recognizes that the best science should lead to better lives based on the fact that the medicine should serve to the needs of society, and knowledge should transform society. The journal aims to address current issues at both national and international levels, start debates, and exert an influence on decision-makers all over the world by integrating science in everyday life. Medeniyet Med J is committed to serve the public and influence people’s lives in a positive way by making science widely accessible. Believing that the only goal is improving lives, and research has an impact on people’s lives, we select the best research papers in line with this goal.
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