Background: In 2019, the outbreak of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) began in Wuhan, Hubei Province, Peoples Republic of China. Currently, the disease has affected millions of people worldwide with COVID-19 reaching nearly every country in the world in less than 6 months. This study aimed to determine parents acceptance of vaccinating their children for COVID-19 in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
Methods: This was a cross-sectional study conducted among parents from Saudi Arabia who had children in the age range of 0-15 years. The exclusion criterion was parents with children aged 15 years and older. The study was performed through an online questionnaire. Ethical approval was obtained from the Research Ethics Committee Unit.
Results: This study included 194 parents; the majority (81.4%) were women, and 92.3% were Saudi nationals. Most parents (98.5%) knew that there are different types of vaccines for COVID-19. More than one-half of parents (64.4%) reported that they would vaccinate their children, and the major reason was awareness (85.6%). The acceptance of parents was significantly affected by age (p = 0.04), parents with hypertension (p = 0.012), and the benefit of the vaccine to children (p = 0.001).
Conclusion: Parents have good knowledge about the COVID-19 vaccine; however, they still have low acceptance regarding vaccinating their children.
Key words: COVID-19, vaccine, parental, acceptance, pediatric
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