Most parents still have questions about the safety of pediatric covid-19 vaccines, according to a survey

(CNN) – Most parents remain concerned about the safety of pediatric COVID-19 vaccines with about three in 10 saying they will “definitely not” vaccinate their children, according to a recent survey by the Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF).

Acceptance of vaccines has declined among teens ages 12 to 17 in recent months. Only about half of parents say their children in this age group have received at least one dose of the vaccine, a percentage that has changed little since the fall, according to the KFF.

And among parents of younger children, ages 5 to 11, about 29% say their child has already been vaccinated or will be vaccinated “right away.”

But another third of parents of children in that age group say they want to “wait and see” before vaccinating their child against COVID-19.

The last KFF survey was conducted over two weeks in mid-November among a nationally representative sample of parents with children under the age of 18 in their home. The survey was conducted before the omicron variant of the new coronavirus was detected and did not capture how this news may have affected the views of parents.

Although most parents say that getting infected with COVID-19 poses a greater risk to their children than getting vaccinated, it is clear that doubts remain. Only about half of parents say they are confident that COVID-19 vaccines are safe for teens, and just 44% of parents say the same for younger children, compared to about two-thirds ( 64%) who say the vaccine is safe for adults.

About six in ten parents say they don’t have enough information about the efficacy, side effects, or safety of pediatric COVID-19 vaccines. In fact, more than one in six parents who have not yet vaccinated their children say the need for more information and tests and research is the main reason they have not yet vaccinated their children against Covid-19, according to the KFF survey.

Dr. Sean O’Leary, vice chair of the American Academy of Pediatrics Committee on Infectious Diseases, said it’s common for parents to take a cautious approach when it comes to their children.

“In general, what we’ve seen over the years is that parents tend to be more careful with their children than with themselves,” O’Leary told CNN. “It’s one of those things that precedes the pandemic. When you ask parents about their concerns, safety almost always comes first, and they often say they don’t have enough information.”

Trusted information

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has shared information on the safety of pediatric covid-19 vaccines, including data showing that serious side effects are infrequent. But parental trust in the CDC has dropped from 66% in July to 57% in November, according to KFF.

Unsurprisingly, pediatricians are the most reliable source of information about vaccines, with more than three-quarters of parents saying they trust their child’s pediatrician or healthcare provider “a lot” or “a lot”. However, according to the survey, less than half of parents said they had spoken with their children’s pediatrician about vaccines against COVID-19.

O’Leary says he has been “very encouraging to primary care providers to take a proactive approach” in communicating with parents about the COVID-19 vaccine.

“Certainly a lot of information is being shared,” he said, but even if pediatricians send information in their email newsletters and text message reminders for children to get vaccinated, this does not mean that parents always read those messages or click on the links.

Much of the slow acceptance of the vaccine can be attributed to issues of access rather than indecision, O’Leary told CNN.

According to the KFF survey, about one in six parents said they would have difficulty traveling to a place where their child could be vaccinated and one in five parents said they would not be able to vaccinate their child in a trusted location. This was especially true for black and Hispanic parents, as well as those living in low-income households.

Political divisions

However, the broader political divide on vaccines is consistent in attitudes toward vaccinating children. Parents who were least likely to get vaccinated were also less likely to vaccinate their children, including Republican parents.

Republican parents were more likely than Democrats to say they would “definitely not” vaccinate their children against COVID-19 (50% vs. 7%), and they were also more likely than Democrats to say they didn’t have enough information about the safety of vaccines in children. In addition, the majority (61%) of Republican parents said that the vaccine poses a greater risk to their children than being infected with COVID-19.

More parents agree when it comes to vaccination mandates in schools. Two-thirds (67%) of parents with school-age children say they do not want schools to require eligible students to be vaccinated against COVID-19, according to the KFF survey.

The vast majority of Republican parents (92%) oppose requiring vaccination of children in schools, while just over half of parents who identify as Democrats (55%) said they were in favor of a vaccination mandate for students.

However, the survey also revealed that children were more likely to get vaccinated if the school encouraged it.

About half of parents said their children’s school provided information about vaccinations, and 44% said their children’s school encouraged them to vaccinate. Young children ages 5 to 11 were about three times more likely to get vaccinated if their school encouraged it (28% vs. 8%), and teens ages 12 to 17 were also more likely to get vaccinated if their school encouraged them. encouraged to do so (60% versus 42%).