• Haifa Aldakhil, Norah Albedah, Nouf Alturaiki, Raghad Alajlan, and Howeida Abusalih.
• College of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences at Princess Nourah Bint Abdulrahman University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Electronic address: Haifa.sd6@hotmail.com.
• J Infect Public Health. 2021 Oct 1; 14 (10): 1497-1504.

BackgroundDespite the success of childhood immunization in reducing vaccine-preventable diseases, vaccine hesitancy is now a global health threat to this achievement. The current COVID-19 pandemic may change the picture of vaccine hesitancy toward childhood immunizations, which could influence the mothers' intention to vaccinate their children against COVID-19.AimTo measure the prevalence and related factors of vaccine hesitancy towards childhood immunization during the era of COVID-19 along with the prevalence of mothers' intention to vaccinate their children the future COVID-19 and its association with childhood vaccine hesitancy.MethodsCross sectional study was conducted among 270 Saudi mothers attending outpatient clinics at King Abdullah University Hospital (KAAUH) in Riyadh by purposive sampling technique. Data were collected from January to February 2021 using SAGE Group standardized questionnaire.ResultsAlthough most mothers strongly agree on the importance of the vaccine (79%), almost one-fourth of mothers were hesitant towards childhood immunization (24.31%). Similar percentage of mothers' intended to vaccinate their children against COVID-19 in the next 6 months was reported (24%). Vaccine hesitancy was found to be a significant predictor of mothers' intention. Mothers' education level was significantly associated with being hesitant towards childhood immunization as well as the intention to accept the future COVID-19 vaccine (p < 0.05). Main reason that was highly significantly associated with being hesitant is the concerns about the side effect (50%).ConclusionThe present study reported a considerable percentage of mothers who are hesitant towards childhood immunization which predicts their intension to vaccinate towards COVID19 and is associated with the level of education.Copyright © 2021 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.

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