Parents’ perceptions and intention to vaccinate their children under 12 years of age against COVID-19: a cross-sectional study in Peru

Background: Despite the proven efficacy and safety of COVID-19 vaccines, pediatric vaccination coverage remains low in many coun-tries. There are still doubts and fears in parents about vaccination in their children under 12 years of age. Aim: To evaluate the perceptions and intention of parents to vaccinate their children under 12 years of age. Methods: Analytical cross-sectional study based on an online survey that evaluated the parents’ perceptions regarding the risk of COVID-19 infection, the need for a vaccine, and the vaccine adverse events in their children under 12 years. We assessed the factors associated with the intention to vaccinate through crude (cPR) and adjusted prevalence rates (aPR), with confidence interval of 95% (CI 95%). Results: 83.5% of respondents had the intention to vaccinate their children under 12 years of age. In the multivariate analysis, the factors associated with a decrease in the intention to vaccinate were to believe that the vaccine was not necessary (aPR 0.65; 95% CI 0.44-0.94), that it would not protect (aPR: 0.14; 95% CI 0.03-0.63), it would not be safe (aPR: 0.80; 95% CI 0.70-0.92) and it would cause long-term side effects (aPR: 0.92; 95% CI 0.85-1.00). On the other hand, living on the highlands or jungle was associated with an increase in the intention. Conclusions: In Peru, 16.5% of parents would not vaccinate their children under 12 years of age, because they perceived that the vaccine was not necessary and would not protect against COVID-19. In addition, they expressed concerns about the development of possible adverse events.