Willingness to Accept Expedited COVID-19 Vaccine Research for Children Under 12 Years after Adult Vaccine Approval
2The Pediatric Research in Emergency Therapeutics (PRETx) Program, University of British Columbia, and BC Children's Hospital Research Institute, קנדה
3Research Informatics, Bc Children's Hospital Research Institute, קנדה
4Pediatric Emergency Medicine Unit, Ziv Medical Center And Azrieli Faculty of Medicine, Bar-Ilan University, ישראל
5Pediatric Emergency Medicine Unit, Seattle Children’s Hospital and University of Washington School of Medicine, ארצות הברית
6Pediatric Emergency Medicine Unit, Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta, Emory School of Medicine, Atlanta, ארצות הברית
7Pediatric Emergency Medicine Unit, Jim Pattison Children’s Hospital, and University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, קנדה
Purpose: To assess if caregivers’ attitudes towards the regulatory process of approving the vaccine against COVID-19 for children under 12 years of age changed after a vaccine was approved for adults.
Methods: This was a larger-scale COVID-19 Parental Attitude Study (COVIPAS) survey of caregivers presenting with their children 12 years old and younger for emergency care in 12 hospitals in the US, Canada and Israel. We compared willingness to support abridged research into COVID-19 vaccines for children between the peak of the pandemic (March-May 2020) and after a COVID-19 vaccine became available for adults (December 2020 –March 2021).
Findings: A total of 1956 surveys were included in the analyses. 385 (30.9%) caregivers in the pre-vaccine approval period and 250 (35.3%) caregivers in the post-adult vaccine phase supported abridged research into COVID-19 vaccines (p<0.001). In both phases mothers were less likely to favour abridged approval. Those with children that were fully vaccinated based on the pediatric schedule in their country favoured abridged approval in phase 1 (OR = 1.99, 95% CI = 1.31 to 3.08), but less so in phase 2. In both phases, age, concerns of parents they had COVID-19 or their child had COVID-19 were not associated with changes in response between phases.
Implications: Willingness to expedite vaccine approval increased after the emergency approval of COVID-19 vaccine for adults, and mothers are much less likely to approve expedited approval. No significant changes have been found in the composition of caregivers willing to forego regulatory demands on vaccine approval.