59 - Vaccine Attitudes Among Teens and Parents in the Post-pandemic Era

Poster Number: 59
Publication Number: 59.1085

Background: Surveys have examined parent/teens’ attitudes regarding vaccine safety and efficacy throughout the COVID pandemic.

Objective: This study examines parent/teen attitudes in the post-pandemic era and attitude changes over time.

Design/Methods: In Oct 2023, Unity Consortium conducted a national online survey of parents/teens 13-18 representative of the US population. New questions were added to surveys from Feb and June 2021. Frequencies and t-test comparisons are presented.

Results: In 2023, 70% of 507 parents and 56% of 512 teens felt it important teens receive all recommended vaccines to stay healthy as compared to 85%/82% of parents/teens in June 2021. In 2023, 60%/61% of parents/teens have concerns about the safety of vaccines in general; 58% of parents/teens have concerns about efficacy. These data remain stable. Despite 85%/86% of parents/teens feeling informed about COVID vaccine, only 58%/56% felt COVID vaccination is safe and 55%/53% felt it necessary. When compared to HPV, Tdap, MenACWY, MenB, and flu vaccines for which parents/teens reported similar or less knowledge, more participants reported belief in their safety and necessity. (Fig1)
Only 46%/33% of parents/teens felt it important to get the latest COVID vaccine. 38%/40% of parents/teens indicate they do NOT plan to get the newest COVID vaccine for the teen. Among those not ruling out the new COVID vaccine for the teen, 62%/82% of parents/teens are willing to receive the COVID vaccine concurrently with other vaccines. Parents cite safety as the main reason to not administer them at the same time.
Preferred location for teen COVID vaccination has been evolving with time; pharmacies, walk-in clinics, more public venues are increasingly acceptable to teens and parents. (Fig2) Healthcare providers continue to be the most trusted information source for parents and teens; 65% and 55% of parents indicated trust in providers and pharmacists, respectively, in the post-pandemic survey. (Fig3)

Conclusion(s): 2023 survey results show a concerning trend in the post-pandemic era in parent/teen attitudes on the importance of ALL vaccines for maintaining health. With respect to the COVID vaccine, parents/teens feel informed about the vaccine, yet both have concerns regarding safety and necessity of the COVID vaccine that they do not share with other adolescent vaccines. A large minority of parents/teens plan NOT to receive the new COVID vaccine. Parents’ and teens’ trust has remained high for providers including pharmacists in the post-pandemic era, and, for many, pharmacies and other public sites are now preferred locations for receiving COVID vaccines.