Maternal Attitudes and Intentions About the COVID-19 Vaccine for Children Aged 5–11 Years

INTRODUCTION: The current study assessed maternal attitudes and intention about the COVID-19 vaccine for children ages 5–11 years since the onset of the Delta variant and examined if the Delta variant changed maternal perceptions about COVID-19 vaccination and COVID-19 precautions for children. METHOD: Participants were 821 mothers (mean age = 40.11 years; 84.3% White) from the United States who had at least one child aged 5–11 years old. They were recruited online and completed questionnaires on Qualtrics (Provo, UT) about their youngest children aged 5–11 years. RESULTS: Most mothers (n = 595; 72.6%) reported they were very likely to have their child vaccinated for COVID-19 once a vaccine is available for children. After controlling for maternal and child factors, maternal trust in the COVID-19 vaccine development and approval process (odds ratio [OR] = 35.07; p < .001) was associated with maternal likelihood of having one's child vaccinated for COVID-19. DISCUSSION: Our findings highlight that one strategy for increasing maternal intent to have one's child vaccinated for COVID-19 may be bolstering maternal trust in the COVID-19 development and approval process.