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.