Parents' views on the acceptability of a COVID-19 vaccine for their children: A cross-sectional study in Abu Dhabi-United Arab Emirates

BACKGROUND

The United Arab Emirates had approved the COVID-19 vaccine for children. Assessing parents' acceptance of the vaccine for their children will influence decision-making in the COVID-19 vaccine roll-out.

METHOD

Parents registered inthe AbuDhabiDepartmentofEducation (12,000 families) were invitedtocompleteanonlinequestionnaire from 8th September 2021 to 17th October 2021. Out of the 12,000 families, 2510 (21%) participants answered the survey. The questionnaire investigated the parents' attitudes and beliefs regarding the COVID-19 vaccine.

RESULTS

The vaccination rate among this group of respondents was high, with 2255 (89.9%) having received two doses and 1002 (45.5%) having already received a booster dose. Acceptance of the respondents to vaccinate their children was high, (75.1%) said they would vaccinate their children, with 64.4% reporting that they would immediately vaccinate their children if the vaccine were made available. Determinants of COVID-19 child vaccination acceptance included the respondent's vaccination status-i.e., if the respondent is already vaccinated (OR 4.96 [2.89-8.53]) or has taken the third dose (OR 2.37 [1.4-4.01])-their children's age (OR 1.11 [1.30-1.18] for older children), and their trust in the following information sources: the government (OR 2.53 [1.61-3.98]), health care providers (OR 1.98 [1.2-3.24]), or social media (OR 2.17 [1.22-3.88]). Increased level of education had a negative impact on the acceptance of giving the vaccine to children (OR 0.63 [0.52-0.77]); fear of side effects OR 0.000164 (0.000039-0.001) was another determinant. The main factor that encouraged parents to give their children the vaccine was to protect their child's health as reported by 1537 (55.5%) participants.

CONCLUSION

The Abu Dhabi community is highly accepting of the vaccine for their children. Future studies of how this vaccine acceptance can influence the pandemic are needed.

COVID-19 vaccine acceptance among healthcare workers in the United Arab Emirates

Background

COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy among healthcare workers (HCWs) is a threat to any healthcare system. Vaccine hesitancy can increase infection risk among HCWs and patients, while also impacting the patients' decision to accept the vaccine. Our study assessed COVID-19 vaccine acceptance among HCWs in United Arab Emirates (UAE).

Methods

Using purposive sampling, UAE HCWs registered in the Abu Dhabi Department of Health (DOH) email database were invited to complete an online questionnaire, between November 2020 and February 2021, to understand COVID-19 vaccine acceptance and hesitancy, and trust in sources of information. Simple logistic regression was used to assess the associations between demographic factors with COVID-19 vaccine acceptance.

Results

Of the 2832 HCWs who participated in the study, 1963 (69.9%) were aged between 25 and 44 years and 1748 (61.7%) were females. Overall, 2525 (89.2%) of the HCW population said they would accept a COVID-19 vaccine. HCWs who were 55+ years of age, male, and physicians/surgeons were more likely to accept a COVID-19 vaccine (OR 3.1, 95% CI 1.5-6.2, p = 0.002; OR 1.8, 95% CI 1.3-2.4, p < 0.001; and OR 1.8, 95% CI 1.1-2.9; p = 0.01, respectively). The most reliable sources for COVID-19 vaccine information were the UAE government (91.6%), healthcare providers (86.8%), health officials (86.3%), and the World Health Organization (WHO; 81.1%).

Conclusions

COVID-19 vaccine acceptance was high among the UAE HCW population. Several factors were identified as significant determinants of vaccine acceptance. UAE healthcare authorities can utilize these findings to develop public health messaging campaigns for HCWs to best address COVID-19 vaccine concerns - particularly when the government is vaccinating its general population.