BACKGROUND:
Globally there are now more than 150 million cases including three million deaths associated with COVID-19 pandemic (1). The magnitude of the crisis has led to unprecedented speed in developing an effective vaccine against the disease. Currently, there are 13 COVID-19 vaccines that are authorised for clinical use in different countries(2).
On April 9th 2021, the Pfizer Inc. and BioNTech SE requested emergency authorisation of Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine to be used in adolescents in USA(3) and the vaccine is now being used in teenagers in USA under emergency authorisation.
When a COVID-19 vaccine becomes available for wider use in other paediatric populations across the world, it is likely that vulnerable children such as those with an underlying CLD may be prioritised, as they have been in adult populations. Children with chronic lung disease (CLDs) including those with asthma, cystic fibrosis (CF), non-CF bronchiectasis and other chronic/congenital conditions are at higher risk of severe viral respiratory infection compared to children without CLDs(4). Vaccines for significant respiratory infections, such as influenza and pneumococcal disease are highly recommended for children with CLDs (5).
Therefore, we conducted a survey among parents/carers of children with CLDs to determine their reasons for accepting or rejecting a potential COVID-19 vaccine for their children when it becomes available for clinical use.