COVID-19 poll shows majority of parents reluctant to vaccinate kids under 5
Moderna is seeking federal approval to administer its vaccine to the youngest children. Credit: AP / Rick West
A majority of parents with children under the age of 5 are hesitant to get them immediately inoculated against COVID-19, if and when the vaccine becomes available, according to a national poll released Wednesday.
Local experts said the poll shows that health providers need to communicate with parents of young children so they can weigh the potential harm caused by a case of COVID-19 against their concerns about the vaccine.
There is currently no COVID-19 vaccine approved for use in children under 5 years. The pharmaceutical firm Moderna has recently asked the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to authorize its COVID-19 vaccine for children under 6. That request is currently being reviewed.
The survey, conducted by the Kaiser Family Foundation, showed that approximately 18% of parents of children under 5 were “eager” to get their child vaccinated right away, while about 38% said they wanted to wait and see how the vaccine works with others.
WHAT TO KNOW
- A new national survey showed 18% of parents of children under the age of 5 were “eager” to get their child vaccinated right away against COVID-19, 38% said they wanted to wait and see how the vaccine works with others, and 27% said they will “definitely not” get their children vaccinated.
- The FDA has not authorized a COVID-19 vaccine for children under 5 but is considering an application from Moderna that would cover the youngest kids.
- Health experts urged parents to discuss any concerns about the vaccine with their pediatricians.
Another 27% of parents surveyed said they will “definitely not” get their children vaccinated. And 11% said they will do so only if they are required, according to the poll.
“Parents are understandably hesitant and they don’t want to do anything they think might have long-term consequences,” said Dr. Eve Meltzer Krief of Huntington Village Pediatrics, a member of the executive council of the Long Island/Brooklyn/Queens chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics.
“But they have to realize [the vaccine] is being reviewed by an objective group of research scientists and they would never approve a vaccine unless they believe through the data that the benefits far outweigh any risks,” said Meltzer Krief, whose middle schooler is vaccinated. “There’s a very stringent process they go through making that evaluation.”
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends that everyone 5 years of age and older receive a primary series of COVID-19 vaccines and that everyone 12 years and older receive a booster shot.
Currently, only the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine has been authorized for use in children in the 5-to-11 and 12-to-17 age groups. People 18 and older can also receive the Moderna and Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccines.
The Kaiser Family Foundation survey also showed about 39% of parents with children between the ages of 5 and 11 said their child has been vaccinated. About 32% said they will definitely not get the vaccine while 12% said they will only get their kids vaccinated if it is required for school.
Experts say vaccinating adolescents and youngsters against COVID-19 is vital because even while the impact of the disease has generally been less severe in children, they are still at risk of serious illness and could pass the virus to vulnerable, older adults.
“We know that pediatric patients are relatively undervaccinated compared to adult patients,” said Dr. Matthew Harris, medical director of Northwell Health’s COVID-19 vaccination program and a pediatric emergency medical physician.
Harris is the parent of school-aged kids who are already vaccinated and a 7-month-old who he said will receive the vaccine. He said kids under the age of 5 made up the “overwhelming majority” of diagnoses, emergency department visits and hospitalizations in Cohen Children Medical Center's pediatric emergency room during the omicron surge earlier this year.
“This is an at-risk group,” he said. “Couple that with the fact that mask mandates have essentially disappeared and that children are going to day care or school, unmasked and essentially unprotected against COVID-19. I think we just have to remind parents that while we are slowly coming to the end of the pandemic phase of COVID-19, additional variants arise almost monthly at this point.”
Parents might be more receptive to the vaccine after the FDA reviews the data and presents it in a public forum, said Dr. Sharon Nachman, chief of pediatric infectious diseases at Stony Brook Medicine.
“I respect that they have questions and they would like those questions answered,” said Nachman. “I think they’ll be more practical and will look at whether their kids have been sick, who else in their community is sick and not getting the elderly population sick … that’s not going to be in the hypothetical.”
Nachman and other health experts encouraged parents to have conversations with their pediatricians about the vaccine.
“We really want parents to ask the questions, but we want them to ask the questions of the right people,” she said.
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Lisa joined Newsday as a staff writer in 2019. She previously worked at amNewYork, the New York Daily News and the Asbury Park Press covering politics, government and general assignment.
