Journal Article

Factors ınfluencing vaccine refusal in children: an umbrella review on COVID-19 and childhood vaccinations

Arslan, Melike Aydemir, Baysal, Hasret Yalçınöz, Güzel, Saadet, Kurşun, Engin, Türkoğlu, Nihan, Polat, Hamza

2026

Overview

Summary Vaccination is a fundamental public health intervention that saves millions of lives and extends human lifespan. However, vaccine hesitancy and refusal have grown into a global threat due to misinformation. The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the critical role of vaccines in reducing mortality rates and controlling outbreaks. Parents' attitudes toward vaccines directly affect children's health and vaccination rates in the community. Therefore, understanding the underlying reasons for parents' refusal of childhood vaccines and the COVID-19 vaccine is of great importance for combating epidemics and public health. The umbrella review method was used in this study. Systematic reviews and meta-analyses conducted between January 1, 2020, and December 30, 2024, were examined in this context. The pandemic period and recent history were considered due to the increase in systematic reviews examining the rapidly rising rates of vaccine refusal after the COVID-19 pandemic. Studies published in English in the PubMed, Wos, and Scopus databases were searched. Fifteen studies were included in the research. In conclusion, socio-demographic factors were found to be a major factor in COVID-19 vaccine refusal, whereas factors such as the “information factor,” “vaccine-related factors,” and “Cognitive Factors” were found to be more prominent in childhood vaccine refusal.

• Publisher: BioMed Central,Springer Nature B.V,BMC
• Subject: Behavior / Biostatistics / Child / Childhood / Children / Children & youth / Childrens health / COVID-19 / COVID-19 - prevention & control / COVID-19 vaccines / COVID-19 Vaccines - administration & dosage / Disease transmission / Environmental Health / Epidemics / Epidemiology / Global health / Health promotion / Herd immunity / Humans / Immunity (Disease) / Immunization / Influenza / Life span / Medical personnel / Medicine / Medicine & Public Health / Mortality / Pandemics / Parent attitudes / Parents / Parents - psychology / Pediatrics / Public Health / Respiratory diseases / SARS-CoV-2 / Systematic Review / Treatment refusal / Vaccination - psychology / Vaccination Hesitancy - psychology / Vaccination Refusal - psychology / Vaccination Refusal - statistics & numerical data / Vaccine / Vaccine hesitancy / Vaccine Refusal / Vaccines / Womens health