Skip to main content
. 2023 Jul 14;55(1):2232818. doi: 10.1080/07853890.2023.2232818

Table 7.

Reasons for not yet vaccinating child or adolescent against COVID-19,a by parental age group and intent, United States, Household Pulse Survey, September 14–November 14, 2022.

  Uncertainb
Reluctantc
  Parents 18–29 years Parents 30–39 years Parents 40–49 years Parents ≥ 50 years Parents 18–29 years Parents 30–39 years Parents 40–49 years Parents ≥ 50 years
Concern about possible side effects of a COVID-19 vaccine for children 61.9 (54.5, 69.2)d 59.0 (54.5, 63.6)d 58.8 (52.4, 65.3)d 47.5 (40.6, 54.3) 50.8 (46.1, 55.5) 56.9 (54.0, 59.8)d 54.3 (51.6, 56.9)d 46.2 (42.4, 50.0)
Plan to wait and see if it is safe and may get it later 53.7 (46.6, 60.8)d 48.0 (43.7, 52.3)d 45.9 (39.6, 52.2)d 33.0 (25.5, 40.4) 20.5 (17.4, 23.6)d 20.7 (18.4, 23.1)d 16.2 (14.1, 18.2)d 10.9 (8.5, 13.2)
Not sure if a COVID-19 vaccine will work for children 11.1 (6.6, 15.6)d 9.2 (6.2, 12.1)d 11.3 (6.0, 16.6)d 4.8 (2.5, 7.2) 9.4 (6.9, 12.0) 9.8 (8.2, 11.4) 8.4 (6.8, 9.9) 8.3 (6.2, 10.4)
Don’t believe children need a COVID-19 vaccine f 5.8 (4.2, 7.3)d 3.9 (2.3, 5.5) f 40.2 (36.0, 44.5)d 42.6 (40.3, 44.9)d 36.5 (33.5, 39.4) 32.7 (28.9, 36.5)
The children in this household are not members of a high-risk group 18.0 (11.1, 24.9)d 21.9 (18.6, 25.2)d 20.1 (15.7, 24.4)d 8.3 (5.4, 11.2) 34.3 (29.3, 39.3)d 37.9 (35.6, 40.1)d 31.3 (28.2, 34.4)d 22.7 (19.8, 25.7)
The children’s doctor has not recommended it 24.2 (16.2, 32.2)d 17.1 (13.9, 20.3)d 12.5 (7.5, 17.4) 9.9 (4.0, 15.7) 15.3 (12.7, 17.9)d 16.2 (14.0, 18.3)d 10.8 (9.5, 12.1) 9.8 (7.6, 12.0)
Don’t trust COVID-19 vaccines f 5.8 (3.8, 7.7) 6.6 (3.6, 9.6) 8.4 (4.9, 11.9) 48.7 (43.4, 54.0) 47.1 (44.5, 49.7)d 47.7 (45.1, 50.3)d 54.0 (49.9, 58.2)
Don’t trust the government 4.4 (2.4, 6.4) 3.8 (2.3, 5.3) 4.0 (1.7, 6.3) 2.9 (1.6, 4.3) 35.8 (30.7, 41.0) 34.3 (32.1, 36.6)d 34.2 (31.5, 36.9)d 40.5 (35.7, 45.3)
Othere 15.1 (11.1, 19.2) 14.3 (11.3, 17.3) 12.2 (8.6, 15.8) 15.8 (10.6, 21.0) 20.6 (17.1, 24.1) 19.7 (17.8, 21.5) 20.3 (18.3, 22.4) 20.7 (17.2, 24.2)
a

Asked of parents with children who were not vaccinated against COVID-19.

b

Vaccination intent was categorized as uncertain if parents stated that they probably or were unsure about getting the child a [COVID-19] vaccine.

c

Vaccination intent was categorized as reluctant if parents stated that they probably will not or definitely will not get the child a [COVID-19] vaccine.

d

Significant (p < .05) for linear regression comparing responses of parents of each age group (18–29 years, 30–39 years, and 40–49 years) compared to responses of parents ≥50 years, within each intent category.

e

Other: Other people need [the vaccine] more than the children in this household do right now (n = 403); concern about missing work to have the children vaccinated (n = 225); unable to get a COVID-19 vaccine for children in this household (n = 85); parents or guardians in this household do not vaccinate their children (n = 601); concern about the cost of a COVID-19 vaccine (n = 334); and other reason not listed (n = 1857).

f

Estimates suppressed due to relative standard error > 30%.