Awareness of Covid-19 and attitudes toward vaccination in parents of children between 0 and 18 years: A cross-sectional study

PURPOSE: Many countries are struggling with the covid-19 pandemic. Although many measures have been adopted to reduce the transmission of the virus, vaccination is the only solution for controlling and ending the pandemic. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the awareness of covid-19 and attitudes toward covid-19 vaccination in parents. DESIGN AND STUDY: The research is a descriptive and cross-sectional study. The online survey was conducted. The population of the study consisted of parents of children aged 0–18 who agreed to participate through the social media (Facebook and Instagram) between May 26 and July 7, 2021. With the community research model, the minimum sample size was determined as 384. A parent description form and the Coronavirus (Covid-19) Awareness Scale (CAS) were used for data collection. RESULTS: The mean Contagion Precaution Awareness sub-factor score of the CAS was 28.84 ± 10.55, the mean Awareness of Following Current Developments sub-factor score was 10.27 ± 4.63, and the Hygiene Precaution Awareness sub-factor score was 9.54 ± 3.55. Thirty-seven percent of the parents wanted their child/children to be vaccinated against Covid-19. A statistically significant association was determined between wished to have their child/children vaccinated against covid-19 and the mean CAS sub-factors scores (p < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS/PRACTICE IMPLICATIONS: Parents' awareness of covid-19 in this study was moderate. The willingness of parents to have their children vaccinated against covid-19 was also low. In order to increase Covid-19 vaccination rates, doubts and lack of information concerning the vaccine need to be overcome by identifying reasons for vaccine hesitancy.