COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy does not carry over to routine childhood vaccinations, US polls show

In a recent article published in Forefront of healthcare businessresearchers provided information on United States (US) population opinion polls regarding the impact of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic on routine pediatric vaccinations, including vaccinations against tetanus, poliomyelitis and measles.

Report: Has COVID-19 threatened routine childhood immunization? Insights from public opinion polls in the United States. Image Credit: Rohane Hamilton/Shutterstock

Background

In recent times, anti-vaccine sentiments regarding COVID-19 vaccinations have garnered immense media attention in the United States, and there have been concerns about prolonged hesitancy towards regular childhood vaccinations. Anti-vaccine sentiments could disrupt parents’ and children’s willingness to vaccinate and threaten existing policies, which emphasize vaccination requirements for schooling in all U.S. states and territories.

Regular childhood vaccination rates have been reported to have been reduced during the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) pandemic. Reductions in vaccination rates were initially thought to be due to disruptions in offline schooling and visits to health facilities. However, rates declined even after health centers and schools began resuming in-person activities, indicating that COVID-19 may have increased vaccine hesitancy.

In this article, researchers analyzed US public opinion polls on the threat of COVID-19 to regular childhood vaccinations.

The team included 21 national-level surveys that were conducted before or during COVID-19 between 2015 and 2023 and met American Association of Public Opinion Research (AAPOR) quality standards. The team assessed views on vaccine safety, trust in population health centers favoring vaccination, and support for schooling policies indicating mandatory vaccination requirements.

Vaccine safety and risks

Polls have indicated that 35-42% of the US population consider SARS-CoV-2 vaccines “very safe” for children. Other polls have indicated similar results; four in ten adults or fewer expressed high confidence in the safety of the COVID-19 vaccine for children. However, polls indicate that the safety of SARS-CoV-2 vaccines has not extended to regular vaccines for children.

About 69% to 70% of the general public believed that routine childhood vaccinations were safe for children. Information obtained from 4.0 polls conducted in the United States before and during COVID-19 (every three years between 2016 and 2022 and the current year) found that 85% to 88% of people agreed to say that the benefits of pediatric measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) outweighed the dangers. Sentiments were also partisan, with 86% of Republicans and 92% of Democrats holding identical views in 2023.

Notably, public perceptions of the safety of regular pediatric vaccines have improved throughout COVID-19, from 54% to 61% pre-pandemic to 70% by the end of COVID-19. 2022 during the pandemic. Since standard vaccinations were more common and had been widely used for several years before the release of new COVID-19 vaccines, regular childhood vaccines seemed safer.

Trust in population health authorities regarding vaccines and support for school vaccination

Only 40% of American adults had strong confidence in community health authorities to offer reliable data on the safety of COVID-19 vaccination in adolescents. Similarly, 25-28% of the general population believed the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and 31-36% trusted the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to provide credible vaccine data. against SARS-CoV-2 during COVID 19.

Regular childhood vaccines, on the contrary, did not indicate any overflow; 54% of the general public trusted public health authorities to provide data on the safety of regular childhood vaccines. Additionally, from 37% in 2019 to 54% in 2022, trust in population health organizations to provide accurate data on the safety of regular childhood immunizations has increased.

The public was split ahead of the 2022-2023 school year on whether students should be required to acquire a SARS-CoV-2 vaccine for in-person instruction, with 47.0% to 52, 0% not in favor of such academic requirements. It should be noted that opposition to SARS-CoV-2 vaccination requirements for students was 5.0% to 7.0% higher in the year prior to the 2022-2023 school year compared to the previous year by the American public.

Polls have shown spillovers, as evidenced by fluctuating levels of support during COVID-19 and factors motivating public opposition. From 2016 to 2019, 82% to 84% of American adults said children needed to be immunized against diseases affecting children, including rubella, measles and mumps, to continue their education offline.

However, from 2019 to 2023, population-level support for the demands dropped from 10.0% to 12.0%. During the period, Republicans saw a significant drop in support, as did people who did not receive COVID-19 vaccines. Forty-nine percent of people believed that decision-making for their children should be left to parents.

conclusion

Based on the findings, there is no ripple effect of COVID-19 on routine childhood vaccines in the areas of trust and safety; instead, the general population has become more positive about regular childhood vaccines during the pandemic, likely because the public has pitted familiar vaccines against newer SARS-CoV-2 vaccines.

However, the population has become increasingly negative about school needs for regular vaccines for children, with little support for mandates being enforced during COVID-19, indicating ripple effects. The larger picture emerging from polls conducted before and during COVID-19 is a growing disparity between public attitudes towards vaccines and vaccination policies. During COVID-19, Americans have shown less anti-vaccination and more anti-mandate behavior.