Administration of COVID-19 vaccination to adult caregivers in pediatric outpatient clinics: a vaccination cocooning project.

Background: Vaccination against COVID-19 is safe for patients greater than 6 months of age and reduces virus infectivity and severity. One strategy for protecting children unable to be vaccinated is cocooning, a concept that protects at-risk individuals by vaccinating adult caregivers (ACs). This study evaluates AC characteristics of those receiving COVID-19 vaccination in pediatric healthcare clinics.

Methods: This study is a retrospective chart review that identified ACs greater than 21 years of age who received a COVID-19 vaccine at one of six UFHealth pediatric offices between March 2021-April 2022. Investigators collected demographic information of the AC and corresponding child.

Results: The AC sample was predominantly female (79.8%), parents (75.3% mothers, 19.3% fathers), White (48.2%) or Black/African American (33.7%). Those who completed both primary doses had higher rates of children less than 5 years compared to those who did not (48.2%, 37.2%; p-value: 0.0225). ACs completing both primary doses were also younger compared to their counterparts (37.0, 39.9 years; p-value: 0.0017), with double the rate of government-funded insurance (42.9%, 20.9%; p-value: <0.0001), and significantly different racial/ethnic distribution (p-value 0.0021).

Conclusions: ACs who completed both primary doses were younger females and had higher rates of children under 5 years old. We believe these results reflect the convenience of offering AC vaccines at pediatric healthcare clinics because of the high frequency of well-child checks within the first 5 years of life. This cohort also had double the rate of government-funded insurance, attributable to the free administration of COVID-19 vaccines at UF-affiliated pediatric clinics.