Changes in vaccine hesitancy among parents of children aged 6 months – 17 Years, National Immunization Surveys, 2019–2022

Abstract

Background: Vaccine hesitancy (VH) has been a major contributor to large outbreaks of vaccine-preventable diseases globally, including in the United States. Methods: Data from the 2019–2022 National Immunization Surveys were analyzed to assess parental hesitancy toward routine vaccination of their children aged 6 months −17 years. Joinpoint regression was employed to investigate trends in VH from 2019 to 2022 nationally overall and among socio-demographic subgroups. Using logistic regression, the difference between the prevalence of VH before and after the authorization of the COVID-19 vaccine for children aged 6 months-4 years, 5–11 years, and 12–17 years was computed. Both unadjusted and adjusted estimates were reported. VH was also compared within each socio-demographic subgroup with a reference level, at two-time points— before and after the authorization of the COVID-19 vaccine for each age group. Results: Overall, VH remained around 19.0 % from Q2 2019 to Q3 2022. Parents of non-Hispanic Black children had the largest average quarterly decrease in VH (β = -0.55; p < 0.05 by test for trend). After the authorization of the COVID-19 vaccine for children aged 6 months to 4 years, the adjusted percentage of children having parents that reported VH decreased by 2.2 (95 % CI: −3.9, −0.6) percentage points (pp) from 21.6 % to 19.4 %. Conversely, for children aged 5–11 years, VH increased by 1.2 (95 % CI: 0.2, 2.3) pp, from 19.8 % to 21.0 %. VH among parents of non-Hispanic Black children decreased after the authorization of the COVID-19 vaccine for adolescents aged 12–17 years but remained significantly higher compared to parents of non-Hispanic White children before and after authorization of the COVID-19 vaccine for all age groups. Discussion: About 1 in 5 children had parents reporting VH from 2019 to 2022. Parental VH increased after the authorization of the COVID-19 vaccine for children aged 5–11 years and declined for children aged 6 months-4 years.