In an online forum designed to quell parents’ anxieties about the COVID-19 vaccine for their kids, one parent wrote: “I’m not an anti-vaxxer or an anti-masker. I’m just worried.” (New York Times, 2021). On May 12, 2021, the New York Times published an article titled “They’re Not Anti-Vaccine, but These Parents Are Hesitant About the COVID Shot” which takes the reader through a series of online conversations between doctors and parents anxious about vaccinating their kids against COVID-19. Parents reported being nervous about the newness of the vaccine and how fast it was developed, as well as the potential for side effects and allergic reactions. Additionally, parents of adolescents raised concerns about the vaccine affecting puberty and future fertility. Since the publication of the Times article, the FDA has granted emergency authorization for the COVID-19 vaccine for children aged 12-15 and so far, 39.5% have received one dose and 29% are fully vaccinated as of August 2, 2021.As vaccination rates are slowing with the Delta variant contributing to rising cases and hospitalizations nationwide, it is important to understand the concerns of those parents who remain hesitant to vaccinate their children against COVID-19. In our 49th and 56th reports, we found that young mothers, Republican parents, parents making less than $25,000 per year, and parents without a college degree were among the most resistant to vaccinating their children before the vaccine was available to children ages 12-15. Now that the question is no longer hypothetical for respondents with children over age 12, it is worth examining continuing sources of vaccine hesitancy and resistance among parents. What are parents’ top concerns about COVID-19 vaccinations for their children? Do these concerns vary based on a parent’s partisanship, gender, age, race, income, education, or place of residence?In our June 2021 survey, we asked parents to rate the following considerations as a major concern, minor concern, or not a concern when thinking about their children receiving a COVID-19 vaccine: how new the vaccine is, whether the vaccine has been tested enough, whether the vaccine actually works, immediate side effects (e.g., fever, nausea), long-term health effects, health effects specific to girls or women, health effects specific to boys or men, religious objections, whether the vaccine companies want to harm people, and whether the government is using the vaccine to harm people. In this report, we examine the most prevalent major concerns for parents by demographic groups to better understand the various sources of vaccine hesitancy among parents.
Coronavirus‐19 infection and vaccination rates in a private school in Brooklyn, New York
