A survey out Wednesday shows parents of young children have some hesitation in terms of vaccinating their children for COVID-19 as the Food and Drug Administration prepares to consider authorizing shots for children under 5 this summer.
The KFF COVID-19 Vaccine Monitor survey showed that just 18 percent of parents with children under age 5 are eager to get their children vaccinated for COVID-19 right away while 38 percent of parents say they plan to wait to see how the vaccine is working for others.
Twenty-seven percent of parents said they would definitely not get their child vaccinated and 11 percent said they would but only if the shot is mandated.
More than half of the parents with children under age 5 said they did not have enough information about the safety and effectiveness of the vaccine for children in that age group.
Among parents with children between ages 12 and 17, 56 percent had already gotten their child vaccinated, and 31 percent said they would “definitely not.”
For those with children between ages 5 and 11, 39 percent of parents said their child had received the shot and 32 percent said they would not. Thirteen percent of parents with children in that age group said they would pursue the wait and see approach.
In terms of safety from exposure, 84 percent of parents said they think their child is at least “somewhat safe” from COVID-19 at school.
Divided by race, 33 percent of Black or Hispanic parents said they felt their child is “very safe” compared to 52 percent of white parents.
The poll was conducted between April 13 and 26. It has a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 3 percentage points and included 1,889 adults.
It comes as the FDA last week released tentative June dates for its advisory committee to meet to discuss authorizing COVID-19 vaccines for young children, suggesting that authorization could come this summer.
