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Pediatric COVID-19 Vaccine Hesitancy: Determinants and Communication Strategies
Abstract
The purpose of this dissertation is to understand the determinants of vaccine hesitancy and the strategies to address it. Three studies were conducted to accomplish this goal: (1) a mixed-method study to identify determinants of pediatric COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy, (2) a primary study to explore the association between trust in the COVID-19 information sources and pediatric COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy, and (3) a qualitative study to investigate primary care physicians’ strategies to address vaccine hesitancy in their patients. Using micro-targeted advertising through social media platforms, 3383 pregnant and postpartum women were recruited. Data analysis revealed that psychological factors, such as increased susceptibility to COVID-19, the severity of the disease, and the perceived benefit of the vaccine reduced pregnant and postpartum women’s hesitancy about getting their children below 5 years of age vaccinated against COVID-19. Thematic content analysis demonstrated that lack of evidence on the vaccine's safety and effectiveness, low COVID-19 risk in children, and concerns about the novelty of the vaccine were commonly cited reasons for vaccine hesitancy.
In the second paper, we found that pregnant and postpartum women who reported mainstream sources, including television, print and online news, healthcare providers, CDC, WHO, other government sources, universities, and researchers, as their trusted source of information about COVID-19 were less likely to hesitate to get their children below 5 years of age vaccinated against COVID-19. Public health professionals should develop messages highlighting the disease risk and consequences in children as well as the benefits of the COVID-19 vaccine using trusted mainstream sources to increase pediatric COVID-19 vaccine uptake.
The themes emerging from qualitative analysis on strategies used by primary care physicians (PCP) in addressing vaccine hesitancy showed that PCPs used different strategies and tailored their messages to the different drivers of vaccine hesitancy. To address vaccine hesitancy, physicians reported that they would emphasize educating patients on the safety, effectiveness, and benefits of the COVID-19 vaccines. However, we also found that some primary care physicians used harsh language when addressing vaccine hesitancy. Future studies should evaluate the type of messages that will be most effective in increasing vaccine confidence.
Citation
Nuzhath, Tasmiah (2023). Pediatric COVID-19 Vaccine Hesitancy: Determinants and Communication Strategies. Doctoral dissertation, Texas A&M University. Available electronically from https : / /hdl .handle .net /1969 .1 /199960.