When COVID-19 vaccinations began rolling out in 2021, misinformation and conspiracy theories led some Americans to forgo getting the jab. However, many restrictions required vaccinations, and a new study has revealed a significant portion of parents lied about their child’s vaccine status as a result.
The study, published in JAMA Network Open, found that 25% of parents misrepresented about their participate or just didn’t adhere to public health measures (PHMs) for their children. The findings, based on participants from 2021, reveal just how extensive the lying was among parents. PHMs were put in place to limit the spread of COVID-19, which has caused more than 1.1 million deaths in the United States since the start of the pandemic, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
According to the study, parents lying about their child’s vaccination status compromised PHMs, “contributing to COVID-19–related morbidity and mortality,” wrote first author Andrea Gurmankin Levy, PhD, MBE, professor and program coordinator, psychology, at the Middlesex Community College, et al.
The study included 580 participants, with the mean age of 35.9 years, who had children younger than 18 years living with them during the pandemic. Participants took an online survey about COVID-19 experiences from December 8 to 23, 2021. The survey asked whether parents had ever engaged in seven types of misrepresentation and nonadherence behaviors regarding COVID-19 PHMs for their children and reasons for these behaviors.
Out of the 580 participants, 150 reported misrepresentation and/or nonadherence in at least one of seven behaviors. Parents most commonly reported they didn’t tell someone who was with their child that they thought or knew their child had COVID-19 and allowing their child to break quarantine rules. Parents most often cited wanting to exercise personal freedom as their reason.
“Additional reasons included wanting their child’s life to feel normal and not being able to miss work or other responsibilities to stay home,” Levy et al wrote.
The study also noted that some children appear to have received a vaccine that was not fully tested and approved in their age group, researchers wrote.
“Our findings suggest a serious public health challenge in the immediate context of the COVID-19 pandemic, including future waves affecting weary parents, as well as future infectious disease outbreaks,” Levy et al wrote. “Further work is needed to identify groups at highest risk of misrepresentation and nonadherence, to address parents’ concerns that were identified as reasons for these behaviors (eg, desire for autonomy), and to implement better support mechanisms for parents (eg, paid sick leave for family illness) during such crises so that misrepresentation and nonadherence feel less necessary.”
Amy joined TriMed Media as a Senior Writer for HealthExec after covering home care for three years. When not writing about all things healthcare, she fulfills her lifelong dream of becoming a pirate by sailing in regattas and enjoying rum. Fun fact: she sailed 333 miles across Lake Michigan in the Chicago Yacht Club "Race to Mackinac."