Exploring parental barriers contributing to Vaccine Hesitancy in an Urban West Philadelphia Population

Vaccine hesitancy has been a growing phenomenon over the past two decades due to a variety of social, informational, and political factors with families becoming skeptical of the established childhood vaccination schedule. This skepticism provides increased risk of vaccine preventable illnesses and death amongst the childhood population. This study aims to find why families in the urban West Philadelphia community, which has lower vaccination rates compared to the greater Philadelphia area, are skeptical to adhere to childhood vaccination schedules. Using the Vaccine Based Assessment Tool (VBAT) questionnaire, we gathered parental responses regarding their views on vaccinating their children from October 2025 - March 2026. Parents were given the survey at their children's appointments. Our data does show signs of hesitancy in domains regarding communal benefit, personal risk, commitment, and social norms. Although a trend is observed, additional data is needed to assess significance. This data could be used to inform medical professionals in the urban West Philadelphia area to address vaccine hesitant families.