Parent-reported provider recommendation of HPV vaccination among minority adolescents before and during the COVID-19 pandemic: Findings from the National Immunization Survey-Teen, 2019–2021

Provider recommendation of human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination among adolescents has steadily improved over the years, however, limited research has been conducted to examine if the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted this positive trend in parent-reported provider recommendation among minority adolescents. Therefore, we conducted the present study to determine if there is an association between the pandemic and parent-reported provider recommendation of HPV vaccine among non-Hispanic black and Hispanic adolescents. We also examined whether any changes in parent-reported provider recommendation in the years 2019, 2020, and 2021 differed by race or ethnicity. Using a cross-sectional design to examine data from the National Immunization Survey-Teen (2019–2021), a moderation analysis and logistic regression analysis were performed to model race-specific variation in parent-reported provider recommendation (n = 50,739). We found that Hispanic parents had lower odds (aOR = 0.80 [0.71, 0.91]) of reporting receiving a recommendation compared to non-Hispanic white parents. We also found that the odds of parent-reported provider recommendation were higher in 2020 (aOR = 1.15 [1.03–1.29]) than in 2019. Other variables–age, region, sex, health insurance status, and poverty status–were all associated with parent-reported provider recommendation. These findings demonstrated that the pandemic may not have triggered any race-related gap in the recommendation of HPV vaccines, however, more pandemic-resilient public health efforts are needed to improve parent and provider communication regarding HPV vaccination of adolescents.