Parents’ News Consumption and COVID Sources in Their Decisions to Vaccinate

Oct 15, 2026

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The study investigates how parents’ media consumption relates to their intentions to vaccinate children against COVID-19 before authorization for ages 5–11. It frames the policy-relevant need to understand not only willingness but how parents seek out COVID-19 and vaccine information, and how messaging, news sources, and information perceptions may connect to health behaviors during fall 2021. The work distinguishes descriptive exploration from causal or purely correlational claims.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryHealthcare

FormatPDF

Pages29

Reading Time1 h 13 min

AccessFree to download

Introduction

Reasons for Immunization

Journal of Applied Research on Children: Informing Policy for Children at Risk Volume 13 Issue 2 Healthcare Misinformation and Child, Family, and Community Health Article 3 2022 Parents’News Consumption and COVID Sources in Their Decisions to Vaccinate Mildred F. Perreault PhD University of South Florida, Tampa campus, [mfwperreault@gmail.com](mfwperreault@gmail.com) Katherine Foss PhD Middle Tennessee State University, [katie.foss@mtsu.edu](katie.foss@mtsu.edu) Follow this and additional works at: [https://digitalcommons.library.tmc.edu/childrenatrisk](https://digitalcommons.library.tmc.edu/childrenatrisk) Recommended Citation Perreault, Mildred F. PhD and Foss, Katherine PhD (2022) "Parents’ News Consumption and COVID Sources in Their Decisions to Vaccinate," Journal of Applied Research on Children: Informing Policy for Children at Risk: Vol. 13: Iss. 2, Article 3. DOI: [https://doi.org/10.58464/2155-5834.1520](https://doi.org/10.58464/2155-5834.1520) Available at: [https://digitalcommons.library.tmc.edu/childrenatrisk/vol13/iss2/3](https://digitalcommons.library.tmc.edu/childrenatrisk/vol13/iss2/3) The Journal of Applied Research on Children is brought to you for free and open access by CHILDREN AT RISK at DigitalCommons@The Texas Medical Center. It has a "cc by-nc-nd" Creative Commons license" (Attribution NonCommercial No Derivatives) For more information, please [contact](contact digitalcommons@exch.library.tmc.edu)[ digitalcommons@exch.library.tmc.edu](contact digitalcommons@exch.library.tmc.edu) Introduction Even before the first COVID vaccine was approved for emergency use in December 2020, the decision to vaccinate was shrouded in controversy and debate. At the beginning of November 2021, approximately 80% of US adults had received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine – a number that fluctuated significantly by age, race, ethnicity, education level, and other demographics.1 Geographically, fully vaccinated rates varied from 35% in West Virginia to 71% in Vermont.2 Vaccination uptake also correlated with age, as 86% of individuals over 65 were fully immunized, compared to 68% of those ages 12 and up.2 In November 2021 , after approval from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) voted unanimously to recommend the Pfizer vaccine to include children ages 5-11.3 As vaccine rollout for the expanded age group began, parents’ willingness to vaccinate their children came under question. In September 2021, the Kaiser Family Foundation COVID- 19 Vaccine Monitor reported that 48% of parents said that their 12-17-yearold children had received at least one dose .4 Additionally, 34% indicated that they would get their 5-11-year-old children vaccinated “right away” once they become eligible.4 Given the rising number of COVID cases and hospitalizations in children, disproportionately of color, at that moment, it became important to understand what factors influence parents’ decisions to get their children vaccinated. While research has begun to assess parents’ willingness to vaccinate their children, missing is a better understanding of how parents think about messaging, information, and news sources on perceptions and behavior. Understanding how parents think and act on information about vaccines is a growing area of media and communication research. This study explores the potential relationships between parents’media consumption and intentions to vaccinate their children against COVID-19 prior to approval of the vaccine for ages 5-11. That said, this study does not seek to provide correlation or causal explanations of news consumption, but rather explores who, how, and why parents are seeking out certain news sources concerning COVID-19 and vaccines during a certain time period in fall 2021 and how they might relate to parents’information seeking and health behaviors. Reasons for Immu

FAQs

What time period and scope does the study examine?

It examines parents’ media consumption and intentions to vaccinate their children against COVID-19 prior to approval for ages 5–11, focusing on fall 2021.

Does the study aim to prove causal effects of news consumption?

No. It explores who, how, and why parents seek specific news sources and how this may relate to information seeking and health behaviors, without offering correlation or causal explanations.

What factors are discussed as reasons for vaccine hesitancy?

The document highlights misinformation availability, concerns about side effects, lack of trust in vaccines and/or government, and doubts about the need for vaccination as top justifications for hesitancy.

Oct 15, 2026

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