Nursing

Adolescent health

Demography

Public health

Ethnic group

Odds

Anthropology

Environmental health

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19)

Immunology

Vaccination

Adolescent medicine

Population

Family medicine

Infectious disease (medical specialty)

Internal medicine

Sociology

Medicine

Disease

Logistic regression

Pathology

Frontiers in Public Health

As of December 8, 2021, 9.9 million U.S. adolescents ages 12-17 years old remain unvaccinated against COVID-19 (SARS-CoV-2) despite FDA emergency approval of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine for use among this age group in May 2021. A slow-down in adolescent vaccine uptake and increased likelihood of hospitalization among unvaccinated youth highlight the importance of understanding parental hesitancy in vaccinating their adolescent children against COVID-19. Racial/ethnic disparities in pediatric COVID-19 infection and hospitalization further underscore the need to examine parental vaccine acceptance and hesitancy among diverse U.S. parent populations. In October 2021, 242 Hispanic and non-Hispanic Asian, Black, and White parents of adolescents ages 12-17 years participated in a national online survey assessing determinants of COVID-19 pediatric vaccine hesitancy. Compared to Asian, Black, and Hispanic parents, non-Hispanic White parents reported reduced odds of having vaccinated their adolescent. Bivariate analyses and a multivariable binomial logistic regression indicated that identification as non-Hispanic White, parental COVID-19 vaccine status and safety measures, COVID-19 misconceptions, general vaccine mistrust and COVID-19 related collectivist and individualist attitudes accounted for 45.5% of the variance in the vaccine status of their adolescent children. Our findings draw attention to the urgent need to consider the COVID-19 beliefs, attitudes, and behaviors of parents from diverse racial/ethnic groups in developing population tailored public health messaging to increase adolescent COVID-19 vaccine uptake.

Determinants of COVID-19 Vaccine Uptake in Adolescents 12–17 Years Old: Examining Pediatric Vaccine Hesitancy Among Racially Diverse Parents in the United States