Abstract：
Introduction: COVID-19 is considered the greatest health disaster affecting humans during the 21st century, which urged the need to develop an effective vaccine to acquire enough immunity against the virus. The main challenge faced during the development of such vaccines was the insufficiency of time, which raised the question about the vaccine safety and efficacy, especially among children. Parents’ and caregivers’ thoughts and acceptance of administering the vaccine to their children are still debatable topics and are yet to be explored in the UAE. Aims: The study aims to exploit parent acceptance, perception, and hesitancy toward the COVID-19 vaccine administration for their children and the link with their choice of distance learning instead of face-to-face education in the UAE. Methodology: This study utilized a cross-sectional descriptive design. A sample of 1049 parents across all emirates were conveniently approached and surveyed using Google forms from June to September 2021. The participants responded to a semi-structured questionnaire pertaining to socio-demographic, educational, and other questions related to COVID-19 and its link with their beliefs in whether the vaccination of their children will help with resuming face-to-face learning. Results: Approximately 74% of the parents confirmed that their children who are 16 years old and above have received the vaccine, and 71% were willing to give the vaccine to their children aged above 5 years. Parents with children receiving online education and those with children where the online modality of learning negatively affected their academic achievement are more prone to administer the COVID-19 vaccine to their children above five years old. The results show a significant association between vaccination of children and the parental desire for resuming physical attendance in schools (p value < 0.001). Multivariate analysis showed that the highest acceptance rate was from parents with children of low academic achievement due to online learning modality during the pandemic. Conclusion: In the UAE, parents of young children have shown a positive attitude towards COVID-19 vaccination in belief that vaccines will reduce the risk of infection and assist in resuming normal lifestyles, such as going back physically to schools. The results reflect the public awareness and the hypervigilance regarding the COVID-19 pandemic in the UAE.
摘要：
简介：COVID-19被认为是21世纪影响人类的最大健康灾难，它敦促需要开发一种有效的疫苗来获得对病毒的足够免疫力。在开发此类疫苗过程中面临的主要挑战是时间不足，这引发了关于疫苗安全性和有效性的问题，尤其是在儿童中。父母和照顾者对给孩子接种疫苗的想法和接受仍然是有争议的话题，还有待阿联酋探索。目的：这项研究旨在利用父母的接受度，感知，以及他们对为孩子接种COVID-19疫苗的犹豫，以及他们选择远程学习而不是在阿联酋接受面对面教育的联系。方法：本研究采用横断面描述性设计。从2021年6月至9月，使用Google表格方便地与所有酋长国的1049名父母进行了接触和调查。参与者回答了一份关于社会人口统计学的半结构化问卷，教育,以及与COVID-19相关的其他问题，以及与他们对孩子接种疫苗是否有助于恢复面对面学习的信念的联系。结果:大约74%的家长确认他们16岁及以上的孩子接种了疫苗,71%的人愿意给他们5岁以上的孩子接种疫苗。有孩子接受在线教育的父母和有孩子的父母，如果在线学习方式对他们的学业成绩产生负面影响，他们更容易向五岁以上的孩子接种COVID-19疫苗。结果表明，儿童接种疫苗与父母恢复学校体育出勤的愿望之间存在显着关联（p值<0.001）。多变量分析表明，由于大流行期间的在线学习方式，接受率最高的是学业成就较低的孩子的父母。结论：在阿联酋，幼儿的父母对COVID-19疫苗接种表现出积极态度，认为疫苗将降低感染风险并有助于恢复正常的生活方式，比如回到学校。结果反映了公众对阿联酋COVID-19大流行的认识和高度警惕。
