Acceptability of COVID-19 vaccination in Chinese children aged 3–7 years with bronchopulmonary dysplasia

Abstract

Objectives: To describe the status of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccination with inactivated vaccines BBIBP-CorV and CoronaVac in Chinese children aged 3–7 years with bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD), and explore factors influencing vaccination and reasons for nonvaccination. Methods: This cross-sectional study involving parents of 397 BPD children aged 3–7 years was conducted through WeChat or follow-up telephone interviews using a standardized questionnaire form. Factors influencing COVID-19 vaccination were explored by using modified Poisson regression models. Results: The overall COVID-19 vaccination rate was 69.0% (95% confidence interval: 64.3%–73.4%). COVID-19 vaccination was less likely to be accepted in children whose mothers had a relatively high educational background (university and above), who lived in urban areas and had a low birth weight (<1 kg), a history of hospitalization for lung diseases in the past 12 months, and intellectual disability. Conversely, kindergarten students and children from families with an annual income of >300,000 CNY ((Formula presented.) 41,400 USD) were more likely to accept vaccination. Adverse reactions occurred in 13/274 children (4.7%) within 10 days after vaccination. With respect to reasons of not accepting COVID-19 vaccination, 95 parents (77.2%) worried about the adverse reactions, and 17 parents (13.8%) refused vaccination on the excuse of not being convenient to go to the vaccination station or not knowing where to get the vaccines. Conclusions: The COVID-19 vaccination rate in BPD children aged 3–7 years needs to be further improved in China. Continuous efforts are required to monitor postvaccination adverse reactions in BPD children, and make vaccination more convenient and accessible.