A nationwide survey study of more than 2,000 US parents of children aged 6 months to 4 years reveals that less than half intend to have their child vaccinated against COVID-19 and that only one-fifth say they plan to do so within 3 months of eligibility.

The research, from a team led by University of Iowa investigators for the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), was published yesterday in JAMA Network Open.

47% said they would wait 3 months or more

The authors fielded an online survey of 2,031 US parents of children 6 months to 4 years old about their intention to vaccinate their child against COVID-19 from Feb 2 to 10, 2022, 4 months before the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) extended eligibility to this age-group. The survey was designed to inform the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices' deliberations and recommendations for COVID-19 vaccination of young children on Jun 17, 2022.

The sample was 54.8% male and 66.2% White, with large shares being age 25 to 49 years (85.6%), having at least a bachelor's degree (40.0%), living in a city (82.9%) or in a southern state (43.4%), and having received at least one dose of COVID-19 vaccine (59.8%).

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