PM2049: Interest in COVID-19 Vaccination in an Inpatient Pediatric Population

Background: Pediatric patients admitted to the hospital are at substantial risk of missed or delayed vaccines. The inpatient setting has traditionally been underutilized as a venue for providing pediatric vaccines. During the 2019 novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic our hospital began an inpatient vaccination program to provide equitable access to COVID-19 vaccines for eligible pediatric patients who were admitted to the hospital. Our objective was to describe interest in inpatient COVID-19 vaccination for eligible pediatric patients on hospital admission.

Methods: Our team collected information interest in inpatient vaccination on admission for every eligible patient who was admitted to the hospital from April 27, 2021 until February 12, 2022. Patients who were COVID positive or a person under investigation (PUI) on admission were not screened. If the patient was not already vaccinated the patients and families were able to select if they were interested, not interested or unsure about vaccination during their inpatient stay. As part of ongoing quality improvement work responses to these screening questions were analyzed to describe prevalence and demographics of interest in inpatient vaccination and how these factors changed over time.

Results: During this time frame 2458 patients were eligible for inpatient vaccination. 2276 patients had their interest in vaccination recorded on hospital admission. 530 (23%) of these patients were interested, 1057 (46%) declined and 689 (30%) were unsure. There were no differences between self-identified race and ethnicity in interest in inpatient vaccination (p=0.80, table 1). Over time the prevalence of patients who were eligible on admission fluctuated in response to changing policies and eligibility criteria (table 2). 15% of eligible inpatients were vaccinated prior to discharge. 12% of patients who were unsure or declined on admission received a dose of vaccine prior to discharge.

Conclusion: Slightly more than half of patients admitted to the hospital were initially interested or unsure about inpatient vaccination. There was no difference in self-reported race or ethnicity in COVID-19 vaccine interest in our population. Some patients who initially declined or expressed uncertainty about vaccination ultimately received a dose of vaccine before discharge. However, many (40%) who were interested were not vaccinated before discharge. Given the high prevalence of uncertainty about COVID-19 vaccination, an inpatient admission can be an important venue for education about the vaccine. Future research should be tailored to identify what factors were able to change patient’s interest in vaccine during admission and how to maximize vaccination for those interested on admission.