Sixty percent of healthcare workers with children under 12 plan to vaccinate their children immediately against COVID-19 after a vaccine receives emergency use authorization from the FDA for this age group, according new poll results released Sept. 13.
The poll also found that more than 80 percent of physicians with children under 12 plan to do the same.
"The HERO Registry is good way to take a pulse check when it comes to vaccination trends," Emily O'Brien, PhD, principal investigator of the HERO Registry and associate professor and member of the Duke Clinical Research Institute, said in a news release. "Just as we saw variation by profession and race when asked about vaccine willingness for adults, we are seeing similar trends for making vaccination decisions for children."
The poll was conducted in June by the Healthcare Worker Exposure Response & Outcomes Registry, a program coordinated by the Duke Clinical Research Institute in Durham, N.C. More than 2,000 healthcare workers responded to the poll, and 29 percent of respondents were workers with a child under the age of 12.
Five other findings:
1. Thirty percent of healthcare workers with children under 12 said they will wait to see how the vaccine is working in this age group before vaccinating their children.
2. About 5 percent of healthcare workers with children under 12 said they would only vaccinate their child if required to.
3. Four percent of healthcare workers with children under 12 said they would not vaccinate their child.
4. Seventy-three percent of physician assistants and nurse practitioners with children under 12 said they would vaccinate their children immediately after a vaccine receives emergency use authorization from the FDA for this age group.
5. More than half (51 percent) of registered and licensed practical nurses with children under 12 said they would vaccinate their children immediately after a vaccine receives emergency use authorization from the FDA for this age group.