2.5 million kids age 5 to 11 have been vaccinated, some parents are still hesitant

As we mentioned, at least 2.5 million kids aged 5-to-11 have received COVID vaccinations around the country, but a new poll shows that many parents are still skeptical about getting their kids vaccinated. We talked about that skepticism with Swapna Reddy, from ASU’S College of Health Solutions.

“The White House reported today that…10% of all kids between 5 and 11, that’s our newest eligible group, have gotten the vaccine. I mean this is great news. We know that there is a certain segment of families and children that have just been waiting for the opportunity to get this vaccine,” Reddy said.

She said there’s a group that we may need to be more concerned about. These are families, parents, and caretakers that are very resistant to getting this vaccine, “even for this youngest and newly eligible group.”

According to the Kaiser Family Foundation poll, there’s about a third of families who can’t wait to get the vaccine, there’s a third that are going to wait and see and there’s a third that, “have absolutely zero interest or plans to get the vaccine for their kids.”

Reddy explained that the demographic for those vaccinating their children has followed a similar pattern to what we’ve seen with the demographic of adults receiving the COVID-19 vaccine.

“The more educated people tend to be, the higher-income people tend to be, the more urban people tend to be. The more likely they are to be willing to get vaccinated or to have already received the vaccine,” Reddy said.

She continued that, “the less educated they are, the lower-income profiles that they’re falling in, and the more rural that they are. They tend to be less likely to be open to getting the vaccine, whether it’s for themselves or for their children.”

Transcript:

We talked about that skepticism with Swapna Reddy, from ASU'S College of Health Solutions.