The Status and Influencing Factors of COVID-19 Vaccination for 3–7-Year-Old Children Born Prematurely

Jingyun Shi,1,* Fangping Zhao,1,* Wanyin Yang,2 Yuru Zhu,1 Min Wang,1 Bin Yi1 1Department of NICU, Gansu Provincial Maternal and Child Care Hospital (Gansu Provincial Central Hospital), Lanzhou City, Gansu, 730050, People’s Republic of China; 2Department of NICU, Gansu University of Chinese Medicine, Lanzhou City, Gansu, 730050, People’s Republic of China*These authors contributed equally to this workCorrespondence: Min Wang; Bin Yi, Department of NICU, Gansu Provincial Maternal and Child care Hospital (Gansu Provincial Central Hospital), No. 143 of Qilihe North Street, Qilihe District, Lanzhou, 730050, People’s Republic of China, Tel +86 13919819662, Email wangmin_wm23@126.com; yibin_bin001@tom.comObjective: To explore the status and influencing factors of COVID-19 vaccination for 3– 7-year-old children born prematurely.Methods: A questionnaire was administered to parents of preterm infants born between 1 January 2016 and 31 December 2019 in Gansu Maternal and Child Health Hospital using convenience sampling.Results: It was found that 96.81% of 282 parents had known about COVID-19 vaccines and acquired COVID-19- and vaccine-related knowledge primarily through WeChat (104/282, 36.88%) and TikTok (91/282, 32.27%). Most parents of the group whose children were vaccinated with a COVID-19 vaccine believed that this approach was effective in preventing COVID-19 (49.75%), whereas most parents of the group whose children were not vaccinated were worried about the adverse reaction and safety of the vaccine (45.88%). According to the regression analysis, the risk factors of children born prematurely receiving a COVID-19 vaccine were no vaccination against COVID-19 in the mothers (odds ratio [OR]=48.489, 95% CI: 6.524– 360.406) and in younger children (OR=12.157, 95% CI: 6.388– 23.139). Previous history of referral (OR=0.229, 95% CI: 0.057– 0.920), history of diseases (OR=0.130, 95% CI: 0.034– 0.503) and high educational level of guardians (OR=0.142, 95% CI: 0.112– 0.557) were protective factors for children born prematurely to receive COVID-19 vaccination.Conclusion: There is a relatively high proportion of children born prematurely receiving COVID-19 vaccination, but some people still have concerns. Publicity in the later stage can be conducted through WeChat, TikTok and other social media platforms, with special attention paid to the populations with lower education levels.Keywords: COVID-19 vaccine, vaccination willingness, children born prematurely, influencing factors