Vaccine
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Understanding the current status of parents' vaccine decision making is crucial to inform public policy. We sought to assess changes in vaccine decisions among parents of young children. ⋯ Nationally, acceptance and ongoing intentional delay of recommended non-influenza childhood vaccines were stable. These findings suggest that more effort is warranted to counter persistent vaccine hesitancy, particularly at the local level. Longitudinal monitoring of immunization attitudes is also warranted to evaluate temporal shifts over time and geographically.
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Children aged 6 months through 8 years may require two doses of influenza vaccine for adequate immune response against the disease. However, poor two-dose compliance has been reported in the literature. ⋯ Improved messaging of the two-dose influenza vaccine recommendations is needed for providers and parents. Providers are encouraged to determine a child's eligibility for two doses of influenza vaccine using the child's vaccination history, and to vaccinate children early in the season so that two-dose series are completed before influenza peaks.