EVALUATION OF MOTHERS' PERSPECTIVES ON CHILDHOOD VACCINATION DURING THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC

ABSTRACT 
Background/Aims: The COVID-19 pandemic, which made clearly showed how the availability of a vaccine could impact lives around the world, may also have changed mothers' perspectives on childhood vaccines. This research was conducted to evaluate mothers' perspectives on childhood vaccination during the COVID-19 pandemic. 
Methods: This descriptive study was conducted 1-15 June 2020 in Turkey. The study was completed with 455 mothers. A descriptive information form and the “Attitudes towards Vaccination Scale” were used. Independent sample t-test and ANOVA were used to compare quantitative data as well as descriptive statistical methods. 
Results: Of the mothers, 96% (n=437) stated that they had their child/children vaccinated regularly. It was found that 4% of the mothers had a negative attitude; 61.8% had a positive attitude toward vaccination. The top three reasons why mothers who partially or never had their children vaccinated were side effects, negative experiences with vaccination and the foreign origin of the vaccines. The COVID-19 outbreak had a positive impact on the attitudes of 19.3% of mothers towards vaccination, and a negative impact on 9%. 
Conclusion: The results of the study showed that the majority of mothers had a positive attitude towards vaccination. However, there are still mothers who do not vaccinate their children. Health institutions and government organizations should continually stress the importance of vaccination on different platforms, not only for health crises such as the COVID-19 pandemic, but always, and following scientific recommendations.