Perceptions, Attitudes and Intentions of Greek Parents Toward their Underaged Children Vaccination Against Covid 19

BACKGROUND: Vaccination of children along with public health protection measures can limit transmission of SARS-COV-2. OBJECTIVE: The aim of the study was to identify the attitudes and perceptions of Greek parents that affect their intention to vaccinate their children against COVID-19. METHODS: The sample of the study consisted of 230 parents of underaged children who were administered a demographic characteristics questionnaire and the “Parental Acceptability of Free COVID-19 Vaccination for Children Under the Age of 18 Years” scale. RESULTS: The majority of participants were females (70.4%), aged 41-50 years old (43.3%), married (86.5%), with university degree (63.5%). The prevalence of parental acceptability of free covid-19 vaccination was moderate (36.6 %) and a small percentage (23.9%) had already vaccinated their children. According to the univariate logistic regression analysis, female gender (adjusted odds ratio [AOR] 3.05, 95% CI 1.43-6.47, p=0.004), highest educational level ([AOR] 2.66, 95% CI 1.21-5.84, p=0.015), history of seasonal influenza vaccination ([AOR] 2.08, 95% CI 1.09-3.98, p=0.026) and self-reported vaccination ([AOR] 17.38, 95% CI 2.29-131.86, p=0.006) were significantly associated with parental acceptability of vaccination. Increasing positive attitude perceptions was associated with an increased likelihood of parental acceptability of COVID-19 vaccination. CONCLUSION: The moderate parental acceptability of underaged children vaccination against COVID 19 and its association with perceptions and attitudes of parents found in the present study, indicate that it is important to raise awareness of parents about the vaccination of their children and public health policies need to focus on strengthening positive attitudes, increasing social consensus and facilitating the desired behavior.