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Review
. 2021 Mar 18:12:663074.
doi: 10.3389/fimmu.2021.663074. eCollection 2021.

Addressing Parental Vaccine Hesitancy and Other Barriers to Childhood/Adolescent Vaccination Uptake During the Coronavirus (COVID-19) Pandemic

Olufunto A Olusanya  1 , Robert A Bednarczyk  2 , Robert L Davis  1 , Arash Shaban-Nejad  1
Affiliations
Review

Addressing Parental Vaccine Hesitancy and Other Barriers to Childhood/Adolescent Vaccination Uptake During the Coronavirus (COVID-19) Pandemic

Olufunto A Olusanya et al. Front Immunol. .

Abstract

Routine childhood immunizations are proven to be one of the most effective public health interventions at controlling numerous deadly diseases. Therefore, the CDC recommends routine immunizations for children and adolescent populations against vaccine-preventable diseases e.g., tetanus, pertussis, diphtheria, etc. This current review sought to examine barriers to pediatric vaccine uptake behaviors during the COVID-19 pandemic. We also explored the implications for parental vaccine hesitancy/delay during an ongoing health crisis and proposed recommendations for increasing vaccine confidence and compliance. Our review determined that the receipt for vaccinations steadily improved in the last decade for both the United States and Tennessee. However, this incremental progress has been forestalled by the COVID-19 pandemic and other barriers i.e. parental vaccine hesitancy, social determinants of health (SDoH) inequalities, etc. which further exacerbate vaccination disparities. Moreover, non-compliance to routine vaccinations could cause an outbreak of diseases, thereby, worsening the ongoing health crisis and already strained health care system. Healthcare providers are uniquely positioned to offer effective recommendations with presumptive languaging to increase vaccination rates, as well as, address parental vaccine hesitancy. Best practices that incorporate healthcare providers' quality improvement coaching, vaccination reminder recall systems, adherence to standardized safety protocols (physical distancing, hand hygiene practices, etc.), as well as, offer telehealth and outdoor/drive-through/curbside vaccination services, etc. are warranted. Additionally, a concerted effort should be made to utilize public health surveillance systems to collect, analyze, and interpret data, thereby, ensuring the dissemination of timely, accurate health information for effective health policy decision-making e.g., vaccine distribution, etc.

Keywords: COVID-19; SARS-COV-2; Social Determinants of Health (SDoH); vaccine compliance; vaccine confidence; vaccine disparity; vaccine hesitancy.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Combined 7-Vaccine Series Coverage (%) by Year among Children ages 19-35 months in Tennessee and the United States in Relation to the HealthyPeople2030 Goal.Combined 7-vaccine series: ≥4 doses of diphtheria, tetanus toxoid, and pertussis, ≥3 doses of polio, ≥1 measles-containing vaccine, influenza 1b full series, ≥3 hepatitis b, ≥1 varicella and ≥4 pneumococcal vaccine. Data source: National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases. Retrieved October 13, 2020
Figure 2
Figure 2
Estimated Vaccine Coverage (%) by Year among Adolescents ages 13-17 years in Tennessee and the United States in Relation to the HealthyPeople2030 Goal.HPV= human papillomavirus vaccine; Tdap= tetanus toxoid, reduced diphtheria toxoid, and acellular pertussis vaccine; Men= meningococcal conjugate vaccine, TN=Tennessee, US=United States. HPV, Tdap, and meningococcal conjugate vaccinations are depicted as the receipt of ≥1 dose of vaccine Data source: National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases. Retrieved October 13, 2020
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