Other
Joanna Lee, DMD (she/her/hers)
Pediatric Dental Resident
NYU Lutheran Dental Medicine, Brooklyn, NY
NYU Langone Dental Medicine - Hawaii
Honolulu, Hawaii, United States
Jaimin Desai, DMD
NYU Langone Hawaii
Nebyat Felix, DMD
NYU Langone Hawaii
Yelizaveta Heron, DMD
NYU Langone Hawaii
Mika Katsura, DMD
NYU Langone Hawaii
Lynn Fujimoto, DMD
Research Mentor
NYU Langone Hawaii
Waianae, Hawaii, United States
Daniel J. Kane, DMD, MA
Program Director
NYU Langone Hospitals
Brooklyn, New York, United States
Purpose: The objective was to identify caregivers’ perceptions about the COVID-19 disease and its vaccinations in order to help identify caregivers’ rationale for choosing to or abstain from vaccinating their children in the state of Hawaii.
Methods: Caregivers with children ages 5-17 years old were selected to participate in paper surveys. Surveys were collected anonymously among five dental community health centers in the Hawaiian islands of Maui, Lanai, Oahu, and Big Island. A total number of 511 surveys were collected from January 2022 – December 2022.
Results: Comparisons showed that 31.0% of parents were not hesitant to vaccinate their children, 22.5% of parents believe in natural immunity, for which they chose not to vaccinate their children. 18.7% were concerned with the long term vaccine risks, and 18.2% were worried that the vaccines were developed too quickly. Parents responded that their comfort level of discussing the COVID-19 vaccine with dental providers were as follow: Extremely uncomfortable (108, 23.4%), Somewhat uncomfortable (101, 21.9%), Neutral (150, 32.5%), Somewhat comfortable (46, 10.0%), Extremely comfortable (56, 12.1%). Regarding dental providers administering the COVID-19 vaccine the results were as follow: Extremely uncomfortable (142, 31.1%), Somewhat uncomfortable (96, 21.0%), Neutral (135, 29.5%), Somewhat comfortable (32, 7.0%), Extremely comfortable (52, 11.4%)
Conclusion: COVID-19 vaccination status among the children in Hawaii is generally low compared to the rest of the United States. Belief in natural immunity and general distrust of the COVID-19 vaccine were primary reasons for caregivers to not vaccinate their children. There was no correlation to .