Influenza Vaccination in Children Younger than 5 Years in the Region of Murcia (Spain), a Comparative Analysis among Vaccinating and Non-Vaccinating Parents: Data from the FLUTETRA Study.

The high burden of influenza in children has driven numerous countries towards universal vaccination of healthy children from 6 to 59 months of age. The Region of Murcia was one of the pioneer Spanish regions to conduct a universal vaccination campaign and to use live-attenuated intranasal vaccine (LAIV) if age appropriate. This study aims to evaluate the parents' likeliness to vaccinate their children and to compare the profile of vaccinating/non-vaccinating parents. This study was designed as a prospective, real-world, survey-based data collection in the 2022-2023 season campaign. This study's sample was selected from those children whose information was available in the local Public Health System databases PERSAN and VACUSAN. Children received LAIV or intramuscular vaccine (IIV) depending on their age as per standard practice. The parent self-vaccination/intention to vaccinate themselves in this campaign (OR = 4.75), the compliance with the official vaccination schedule (OR = 3.41), and the prescription of antibiotics more than twice in the previous year (OR = 2.24) were strongly associated with children's vaccination. Overall, vaccinating parents were very satisfied with the vaccine (IIV: 67.5% vs. LAIV: 68.8%, p = 0.320), and most parents would rather have their children vaccinated with LAIV for the next campaign (43.0%). The main reasons for vaccinating were to protect the child (LAIV: 85.9% vs. IIV: 89.4%), and the predominant reasons for not vaccinating were a lack of healthcare professional recommendation (30.9%), and lack of information about the vaccination campaign (21.5%) and the vaccine itself (21.0%). The clinical context of parents and children was determinant in decision making, which was also influenced by the presence or absence of recommendation by healthcare professionals. Parents were generally very satisfied with the vaccine and showed their preference towards LAIV for future campaigns.

Profiles of People Who Carried Out Late Primary Vaccination against COVID-19 in the Region of Murcia.

Despite the impact of the COVID-19 vaccination, vaccine hesitancy is a matter of concern. Despite a lower disease incidence, people continue to start primo-vaccination late. The aim of this study is to characterize people late primo-vaccinated and the reasons that led them to start vaccination. A quantitative, descriptive and prospective study was performed on the basis of phone surveys of people vaccinated from February to May 2022 in the Region of Murcia (Spain). The survey included socio-demographic and COVID-19 information, self-perception risk, vaccine security, Fear of COVID-19 Scale, reasons for not being vaccinated and reasons that have led them to vaccination. From a total of 1768 people receiving primo-vaccination, 798 people were contacted, and 338 people completed the survey. Among the interviewed people, 57% reported non-health-related reasons to get vaccinated, travel reasons being the primary one. The most reported health-related reason was a fear of COVID-19. There was a significant positive association between vaccination for health-related reasons and female gender (ß = 0.72), cohabiting with a vulnerable person (ß = 0.97), higher self-perceived risk (ß = 0.13) and vaccine security dimension (ß = 0.14). We identified two different profiles of people with late COVID-19 primo-vaccination, with health-related or non-health-related reasons. This work can be useful in designing specific communication strategies.