When Both Parents Agree on Vaccines, Kids Are 14.8 Times More Likely to Get Vaccinated

When both parents are on the same page about vaccinating their child, that child is 14.8 times more likely to receive vaccines compared to families where parents disagree or haven't discussed it. This striking finding comes from a groundbreaking study that examined how fathers and mothers make vaccination decisions together—a perspective that's been largely overlooked in pediatric health research.

How Do Parents Actually Make Vaccine Decisions?

Researchers studied 943 fathers living in two-parent households to understand how families navigate COVID-19 vaccination decisions for their preschool-aged children. The results challenge the traditional assumption that mothers are the sole gatekeepers of children's health decisions.

The vast majority of fathers—89.0%—reported that they and their child's mother jointly decided whether to vaccinate their child against COVID-19. This collaborative approach appears to be the norm rather than the exception in modern families.

What Happens When Parents Disagree About Vaccines?

The study used multivariate logistic regression analysis to examine the relationship between parental agreement and actual vaccination rates. The researchers adjusted for various parent characteristics to ensure their findings were robust.

Children whose parents agreed on vaccination decisions—whether for or against—were significantly more likely to follow through with that decision. The statistical analysis revealed a dramatic difference: agreement increased vaccination odds by a factor of 14.8, with a confidence interval ranging from 7.1 to 31.2 times more likely.

Several factors contribute to successful vaccine decision-making in families:

• Joint Discussion: Parents who actively communicate about vaccination decisions create clearer pathways to action
• Shared Values: Families where both parents hold similar views about vaccine safety and efficacy show higher follow-through rates
• Unified Approach: When parents present a united front, it eliminates confusion and mixed messages that can delay or prevent vaccination

Why Fathers Matter More Than We Thought

This research fills a critical gap in our understanding of family health decisions. Previous studies have overwhelmingly focused on mothers' perspectives, often recruiting "parents" but ending up with samples composed largely of mothers, or failing to analyze mothers and fathers separately.

The findings suggest that fathers may actually have higher willingness to vaccinate children than mothers in some cases, contradicting long-held assumptions about parental roles in healthcare decisions. This has important implications for public health outreach, which has traditionally targeted mothers almost exclusively.

The research is particularly relevant given that fewer than 10% of children aged 1-4 years had completed their COVID-19 primary vaccination series as of May 2023, and approximately 50% of parents with children under age 5 reported they would "definitely not" get their child vaccinated.

Understanding how joint decision-making works between fathers and mothers could help healthcare providers and public health officials develop more effective strategies for increasing childhood vaccination rates. Rather than focusing solely on maternal concerns, interventions might be more successful when they engage both parents and address the specific concerns that fathers bring to vaccination discussions.