A parent’s initial reluctance increases as their child gets older.
A new study by KFF, a healthcare think tank, found that only 3 out of 10 parents of children under the age of 5 say they’ll get their child vaccinated immediately if a COVID-19 vaccine is approved for their age group. Compared to parents of older children, this is a decrease, but it is still higher than the rate of one out of every five parents in July.
As children get older, parents are increasingly ready to have them vaccinated. Parents of 5- to 11-year-olds say their children have had at least one COVID-19 injection, up from 16 percent in November, while parents of 12- to 17-year-olds say their children have received at least one injection, up from just under 50 percent.
‘Half of the parents report being worried about their child becoming seriously sick from the coronavirus.’ — KFF
As recently as last week, Pfizer (PFE) and BioNTech (BNTX) requested that federal regulators approve Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccination for 6-month-old children. By the end of February, we could see the first images from the project. It is currently available for 5- to 11-year-olds in a dosage one-third of what persons 12 and older receive with Pfizer’s vaccine.”
COVID-19 has claimed the killed of 894,810 Americans as we reach the third year of the epidemic. Over the past 14 days, the number of deaths in the United States has risen by 21 percent, according to the New York Times tracker. In fact, the number of people dying every day is currently more than it was at its peak last fall, when the more deadly delta strain predominately affected people.
According to the KFF, “Many parents of school-aged children have reported disruptions in their child’s schooling during January,” including quarantine, school closure, or parents opting to keep their child home because of COVID-19 fears.
Despite this, many parents are concerned about the vaccine’s safety. Coronavirus-related illness is a major concern for half of parents, especially those who are black or Hispanic and those with lower incomes, according to a new survey.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, scientists have tested the vaccines on thousands of children and identified no severe safety problems. COVID-19 vaccines are subject to the “most extensive and intense safety monitoring programme in US history,” according to the statement.”
Patients with COVID-19 showed an approximately 16-fold increase in myocarditis risk between March 2020 and January 2021 as compared to those without the virus. According to Johns Hopkins, only 11 confirmed cases of myocarditis were documented out of 8 million vaccination doses administered to children aged 5 to 11.
Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla remarked that the number of children under the age of 5 who were hospitalised as a result of the infection has skyrocketed. We believe that three doses of the vaccine will be necessary for children 6 months to 4 years of age to provide high levels of protection against existing and potential future variations,” he said.