• Melissa S Stockwell, Christina A Porucznik, Ashton Dixon, Jazmin Duque, Joseph B Stanford, Vic Veguilla, and Fatimah S Dawood.
• From Department of Pediatrics, Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons; Department of Population and Family Health, Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University Irving Medical Center, New York, NY (MSS); Division of Public Health, Department of Family and Preventive Medicine, University of Utah School of Medicine, Salt Lake City (CAP, JBS); Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, GA (AD, VV, FSD); Abt Associates, Atlanta, GA (JD). mss2112@cumc.columbia.edu.
• J Am Board Fam Med. 2022 Dec 23; 35 (6): 117411781174-1178.

BackgroundMillions of children have tested positive for SARS-CoV-2, and over 1000 children have died in the US. However, vaccination rates for children 5 to 11 years old are low.MethodsStarting in August 2020, we conducted a prospective SARS-CoV-2 household surveillance study in Spanish and English-speaking households in New York City and Utah. From October 21 to 25, 2021, we asked caregivers about their likelihood of getting COVID-19 vaccine for their child, and reasons that they might or might not vaccinate that child. We compared intent to vaccinate by site, demographic characteristics, SARS-CoV-2 infection detected by study surveillance, and parents' COVID-19 vaccination status using Chi-square tests and a multivariable logistic regression model, accounting for within-household clustering.ResultsAmong parents or caregivers of 309 children (0 to 11 years) in 172 households, 87% were very or somewhat likely to intend to vaccinate their child. The most prevalent reasons for intending to vaccinate were to protect family and friends and the community; individual prevention was mentioned less often. The most prevalent reasons for not intending to vaccinate were side effect concerns and wanting to wait and see.In multivariable analysis, parents had much lower odds of intending to vaccinate if someone in the household had tested SARS-CoV-2-positive during the study (adjusted odds ratio = 0.09; 95% confidence interval, 0.03-0.3).ConclusionThis study highlighted several themes for clinicians and public health officials to consider including the importance and safety of vaccination for this age-group even if infected previously, and the benefits of vaccination to protect family, friends, and community.© Copyright by the American Board of Family Medicine.

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