A new study led by Matthew Kreuter, the Kahn Family Professor of Public Health at the Brown School at Washington University in St. Louis, found that among low-income families, younger mothers were less likely than older women or fathers to support the vaccination of children to prevent the COVID-19 virus.
Researchers conducted a survey of Medicaid patients in Florida. They found that the youngest Black and White mothers (those ages 30 and under) were least likely to intend to vaccinate their child (24%), followed by Black and White mothers in their early 30s (36%), younger Hispanic and mixed-race or other race parents (45%), older mothers (48%) and older fathers (71%).
“Fathers appear to be more favorable than mothers toward vaccinating their children, but our study did not consider who makes health-related decisions in the family,” Dr. Kreuter said. The youngest Black and white mothers were more likely to report their lives being worse during the COVID-19 pandemic, were far more negative and less positive about a COVID-19 vaccine, and were more concerned about paying bills than preventing COVID-19, Dr. Kreuter reports.
The full study, “Intention to Vaccinate Children for COVID-19: A Segmentation Analysis Among Medicaid Parents in Florida,” was published in the journal Preventive Medicine. It may be accessed here.